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Saudi Arabia secured nine agreements in the mining sector, attracting over USD 9.3 bn in investments, Reuters reports. The agreements — reached at the World Investment Conference — primarily target processing and manufacturing facilities. Here’s a rundown of what we know about the projects:
#1- Copper rod: India’s Vedanta Copper International, a subsidiary of Vedanta, signed an MoU with the Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry to invest USD 2 bn in significant copper projects in the Kingdom, according to a statement (pdf). The projects include a 400k metric ton per annum (TPA) greenfield copper smelter and refinery and a 300k TPA copper rod project, all set to be established in Ras Al Khair Industrial City. The company plans to begin its investments with a 125k copper rod project set to begin production by 2Q 2026, with initial investments of USD 30 mn.
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#2- Zijin plans to invest between SAR 5 and USD 6 bn in a multi-phase zinc, lithium, and copper project. The first phase will involve building a zinc smelter capable of producing 100k TPA of zinc ingots and 200k TPA of sulphuric acid. The second phase includes a lithium carbonate mining facility with a production capacity of 60k TPA of battery-grade lithium carbonate, and the final phase will see the establishment of a copper refinery with an output of approximately 50k TPA of electrolytic copper foil and 200k TPA of copper cathodes.
#3- Australia’s Hastings Technology Metals is set to invest SAR 5.6 to 7.2 bn in a multi-phase project to build processing facilities for rare earth elements. This will include a hydrometallurgical processing plant, a solvent extraction separation facility, and a downstream processing facility, Reuters reported.
#4- A smelter and refinery: Vancouver-based Platinum Group Metals, in partnership with local firm Ajlan & Bros Mining, is exploring investments worth SAR 1.9 bn platinum into developing a group metals smelter and a base metals refinery. The smelter would process feedstock sourced from the company’s Waterberg mine in South Africa.
MORE EXPLORATION LICENSES ARE COMING-
The ministry also announced the list of local and international companies qualified to compete for five exploration licenses in the country’s mineralized belts at Jabal Sayid and Al Hajar, according to a statement. These areas hold promising reserves for metals, including copper, zinc, gold, lead, and silver.
The details: The mineralized belts cover a total area of 4.8k sq km. Three licenses are located in the Jabal Sayid belt, covering 2.9k sqkm and containing base and precious metals such as copper, zinc, lead, gold, and silver. The two other licenses are located in the Al Hajar site within the Wadi Shawas belt, spanning 1.9k sqkm and containing copper, zinc, and gold.
Who passed the prequalification? The qualified bidders included three consortiums and 11 companies, including Hancock Prospecting, Noring Ajlan & Bros, IGO, Silver Crop Metals, Vedanta, First Quantum Minerals, Golden Smelter, McQueen Mining, Grand Mining Limited, and K92.
Saudi’s mining sector is on a roll: Saudi’s Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry awarded exploration licenses for six exploration sites in Riyadh, Makkah, and Asir earlier this month. The sites cover an area of 850 sq km located in Riyadh, Asir, and Makkah regions, with reserves containing a mix of gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead. The companies and consortiums awarded the licenses all committed SAR 75 mn in investments for the exploration efforts and an additional SAR 5 mn for community development near the sites. It also announced earlier in October it was accepting bids for seven new mining exploration licenses across Makkah and Riyadh, covering an area of nearly 1.1k sq km. Many of the tenders were part of the Exploration Enablement Program announced by the government earlier this year, which aims to incentivize critical minerals exploration by reducing early-stage risks for mining investments.
REMEMBER- Saudi Arabia has big mining plans: The country’s Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry launched a fresh incentives package worth SAR 685 mn earlier this year as part of efforts to expand the sector and tap reserves of gold, phosphate, and others. The goal is to attract local and foreign mining investors as part of a push to become a global hub for metals critical for the energy transition and become an EV manufacturing hub. The nation’s untapped mineral resources are now worth as much as USD 2.5 tn, or 90% more than the last forecast in 2016.
