Saudi king to open $22.7bn mining project
RIYADH – Saudi Arabia's King Salman will inaugurate on Thursday the Waad Al-Shamaal project, a 440 km2 city for mining industries in the country's northern region, Al Arabiya TV said, quoting Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih.
The project will cost 85-billion riyals and create 10 000 jobs, Falih said. It is part of an industrial scheme aimed at opening up Saudi's north to development that will boost job creation.
Mining is key to the kingdom's reform plan to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons, as the government aims to more than triple this sector's contribution to the nation’s economic output by 2030.
Saudi authorities estimate the region holds 500-million tonnes of phosphate ore, around 7% of global proven reserves, mainly in the Al Jalamid and Umm Wu'al areas between Arar and Turaif.
The Energy Ministry estimates the kingdom's unused mineral resources to be valued at five-trillion riyals.
Saudi Arabia’s efforts to build an economy that does not rely on oil and state subsidies involves a shift towards mining vast untapped reserves of bauxite, the main source of aluminium, as well as phosphate, gold, copper and uranium.
Al Arabiya quoted Falih as saying the mining sector will be open to foreign investment after introducing a new law, without giving further details.
Currently Saudi Ma'aden is the kingdom's sole miner, producing gold and copper and has in recent years expanded into the production of aluminium and phosphates. It is 65%-owned by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund.
Ma'aden, which is also the Gulf’s largest miner, was developing its third project to manufacture phosphate fertilisers at its Waad al-Shamal facility at an estimated cost of 24-billion riyals.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation