Saudi Arabia expects a new boom in commodity investment after a report shows that Saudi Arabia may have rare, undeveloped mineral deposits worth US$1.3 trillion. Khalid Mudefer, the deputy minister in charge of mining affairs at the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, told Jiandao.com that he expects the current mining investment to increase by 150% in the next ten years. He added that this investment can provide up to 220,000 jobs.

Resources include rare earth minerals such as phosphate, gold, copper, zinc, and nickel. The mining industry has increasingly become a key element of Saudi Arabia’s economic development, second only to energy and petrochemicals, as the Kingdom seeks to cut its economy from oil production and exports. As the world economy moves towards clean energy, the global demand for minerals is also increasing to cope with climate change. Rare earth minerals are key components of mobile devices such as mobile phones, laptop computers and electric cars. Saudi Arabia's mining industry has attracted many foreign investors, the most notable of which are global giants Barrick Gold and Alcoa.

Mudefer said that 1,800 mining licenses-issued decades ago are still valid. After the introduction of the new mining law in 2021, the Ministry of Railways received more than 1,500 permit applications, making it easier for foreign companies to invest. In addition, 274 mining licenses have been issued so far in 2021, of which 8 have an average estimated investment of S$250 million to S$500 million.

Mudayfer said: According to the new mining investment law, this is just the beginning. He also said that Saudi Arabia is seeking to become one of the world's three largest phosphate producers and plans to strengthen the copper industry by building copper smelting facilities. New investment in the mining industry continues to grow, with an increase of 36.2% in the first quarter of 2021 over the same period in 2020. Since the second quarter of 2020, the total number of investment permits issued by the mining industry has reached 478. Earlier in 2021, Mudayfer said that relevant departments would invest US$3.7 billion in the development of this industry to "maximize the value of the kingdom's mineral resources."

At that time, he also announced a five-year regional geological survey plan, which will carry out detailed surveying and mapping of more than 700,000 square kilometers of mineral-rich Arab shields in western Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: overseas engineering, international engineering construction, foreign engineering construction news

Saudi Arabia’s metal and mining sector is creating investment opportunities in line with the Kingdom’s 2030 vision. In addition to silver, zinc, copper, magnesium and kaolin deposits, central and northern Saudi Arabia also contains a large amount of bauxite.Editor/XuNing