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World’s biggest oil exporter looks for foreign investments into a sector that has $1.3 trillion in untapped potential reserve value
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Saudi Arabia’s mining industry has already attracted some major foreign investors
Saudi Arabia intends to auction two major mining licenses in 2022 for gold, copper, and zinc as the world’s biggest oil exporter looks for foreign investments into a sector that has $1.3 trillion in untapped potential reserve value.
The auction was announced by Vice Minister for Saudi Mining Affairs Khalid Al-Mudaifer during an interview with S&P Global on the sidelines of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Leaders Forum in Dubai this week, reported Arab News.
Looking ahead, Al-Mudaifer said: “We expect to see an increase in international investment in mining, particularly because demand for minerals around the world is growing fast. According to geological surveys dating back 80 years, the Kingdom has an estimated reserve of untapped mining potential valued at $1.3 trillion.”
Saudi Arabia’s mining industry has already attracted some major foreign investors. American industrial corporation Alcoa has a 25.1 percent stake in two companies, Ma’aden Bauxite and Alumina and Ma’aden Aluminum, as part of $10.8 billion joint venture with the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) located in Ras al-Khair Industrial City in the Eastern Province.
The Mosaic Company, a fertilizer producer, has a 25 percent stake in the $8 billion Ma’aden Wa’ad Al-Shamal Fertilizer Production Complex located in Wa’ad Al Shamal Minerals Industrial City in the north of Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, Barrick Gold has a 50 percent stake with Ma’aden in the Jabal Sayid underground Copper Mine and Plant. Al-Mudaifer said that a new mining law, which came into force on Jan. 1, 2021, will help attract more foreign investors because it treats them equally with local investors.