Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has announced that the sixth edition of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF), a global platform for shaping the future of minerals, will be held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques from January 12 to 14 next year, in Riyadh.

The sixth edition, under the theme “Global Collaboration for Resilient Mineral Supply”, will focus on mobilising finance, accelerating project development and shortening the time needed to bring projects into production to increase mineral supply and accelerate the development of value chains within the Kingdom and across emerging supplier regions, including the Super Region spanning Africa, West and Central Asia and Latin America.

FMF 2027 will be headlined by its government-led Ministerial Roundtable, which will convene senior government representatives, industry leaders, multilateral organisations, academic and financial institutions and stakeholders from across the mineral value chain to drive collective action on the future of minerals.

The forum will also feature expanded ‘Gateway to Funding’ activities to showcase investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia and the other regions, financing instruments and collaboration models, while connecting investors with scalable projects.

‘State of the Sector’ sessions, an extension of the Future Minerals Barometer, will provide global commodity outlooks, market trends and strategic insights to support decision-making by governments, industry leaders and investors.

Specialised leadership roundtables and knowledge exchange meetings will explore regional challenges around mineral supply resilience and develop practical solutions to strengthen supply chains.

FMF 2027 builds on the success of its previous five editions in facilitating global dialogue and collaboration across the mining and minerals sector, the forum points out.

Its fifth edition, held in January this year, welcomed senior government representatives from 91 countries and more than 64 governmental and nongovernmental organisations, alongside 21 500 participants from 175 countries.

The forum also hosted the signing of 132 agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth more than $26.7-billion, bringing the cumulative total across five editions to 398 agreements and MoUs valued at over $75.2-billion.

Over its first five editions, the forum has evolved alongside developments in the Kingdom’s mining sector, which include increased mining opportunities and the announcement of several programmes to support industrial and mining services, capacity building and innovation.