RIYADH - The Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef confirmed the ministry's goal to attract investments worth $32 billion in the mining and minerals sector through 9 new projects aimed at supporting the export of mineral products to local and international markets, and the ministry is currently studying 145 applications for obtaining licenses. Explore from foreign companies.
He explained that among the projects that are currently being implemented as part of the targeted investments, a steel plate factory with investments of more than 4 billion dollars, which aims to supply a shipbuilding factory in the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services in Ras al-Khair, and a factory for electric car batteries inputs worth 2 billion. One billion dollars, in addition to other projects to produce metals such as aluminum, steel sheets, copper and zinc refinery, which are expected to increase local demand thanks to the tendency to industrialize in the Kingdom.
Al-Khorayef indicated that these investments come as part of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, in cooperation with the Ministry of Investment and the Ministry of Energy, which seeks to make the mining sector the third pillar of the national industry in accordance with the objectives of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Programme, pointing out that these projects will provide more than 14,500 job opportunities. .
His Excellency the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources explained that the ministry’s participation in the pioneering “Indaba African Mining Investment” conference, which is scheduled to be held in Cape Town, South Africa next week, as part of our national program for economic diversification, is our mission in the ministry to work on benefiting from mining resources to develop A sustainable mining sector capable of global competition that would support economic development, job creation and industry development on a larger scale, noting that these projects are consistent with our ambition to become a leading center for mining and metallurgical industries, and contribute to the growth of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the region as a whole.
He pointed out that the value of the targeted investments from the ministry depends on its previous success in developing the mining sector, which witnessed investments of more than 26 billion dollars in aluminum and phosphates, the last of which was the "Phosphate 3" project with investments amounting to about 5 billion dollars, and it began investing nearly 900 million dollars. US dollars through the leading national mining company, Maaden, in the ammonia plant in Ras Al-Khair Industrial City, which is the first project within the “Phosphate 3” expansion of Ma’aden’s phosphate fertilizer portfolio, which includes the entire development process of phosphate fertilizers from the mine to the market to become the Kingdom Of the three largest countries in the trade of phosphate fertilizers.
His Excellency indicated that during this year it is expected that the Mansoura and Masarah gold mine will be ready to start operating, as it is one of the mines of the "Maaden" company in the Makkah region, with a total cost of more than 880 million dollars, and it will work on an annual production of 250 thousand ounces of gold and silver. .
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources will participate in the pioneering “Indaba African Mining Investment” conference to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 9 to 12 May 2022, to promote mining investment opportunities in the Kingdom, following the recent legislative, regulatory and financial reforms and the issuance of the The new mining investment system, and talk about the potential and opportunities of the mining sector, especially in the Arab Shield region, which has a potential mining wealth of $1.3 trillion.