Deals were announced during the World Investment Conference in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia has signed multiple deals with international companies to accelerate the development of its mining and metals sector. According to Reuters, nine agreements worth a combined $9 billion were finalized during the World Investment Conference in Riyadh. These deals include India’s Vedanta conglomerate, which will invest $2 billion in copper smelting and refining facilities. In the rare earths field, Australian miner Hastings will build processing facilities worth roughly $1.5 billion. In July, the company initially floated the Kingdom as a location for downstream production of its Yangibana project in Western Australia. In the platinum sector, Canadian Platinum Group Metals will explore setting up a $500 million platinum group metals smelter and base metals refinery. Other projects include zinc and other critical minerals.
The investments align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, an initiative under which the Kingdom seeks to diversify its industrial and mineral resources sectors away from fossil fuels. By 2030, Saudi Arabia plans to reduce the oil industry’s share of its GDP to eleven percent.
In 2022, it publicly highlighted its mineral wealth and opportunities, adding that the sector’s role is projected to grow further (we reported). For mining itself, the country seeks international support, for example, from Australia. As another alley to profit from critical minerals, the Kingdom, in late 2023, floated the idea of setting up a trading platform for critical minerals that are currently not publicly traded.
Photo: iStock/MOHAMED HUSSAIN YOUNIS
