Saudi Arabia reveals $100 billion mining investment

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia is working to put itself on the global critical minerals map, announcing a number of deals, investment plans and discoveries at its annual Future Minerals Forum in the capital Riyadh.

Saudi Deputy Mining Minister Khalid al-Mudaifer announced on Wednesday the development of a new mining investment project valued at $100 billion, of which $20 billion was already in the final engineering phase or in progress. construction.

Although the deputy minister did not provide further details, Saudi officials discussed plans to significantly expand lithium exploration in the country, as well as other critical minerals and rare earth elements, including copper, gold, zinc, phosphate and nickel.

In early 2024, the kingdom’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources increased its estimate of the value of its untapped mineral resources from $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion, boosted by the discovery of the aforementioned elements and metals. At the Future Minerals Forum in January 2024, the Saudi government established a $182 million incentive program for mineral exploration.

The kingdom’s state oil giant Aramco on Wednesday announced a joint venture with Saudi state mining company Ma’aden to explore and produce energy transition minerals.

Speaking on stage, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman told minerals forum attendees that Aramco had identified “promising” lithium concentrations exceeding 400 parts per million in areas where it operates .

“We used to say… that Aramco has no business doing anything,” bin Salman told attendees at the event. “Aramco can be a diverse company and its mandate has no limits.”

The minister highlighted Manara, a recently established venture between Saudi state mining company Ma’aden and the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Manara was created to invest in mining assets across the world and develop more resilient global supply chains.

“We do not claim to have all the resources or capabilities, which is why we created Manara to ensure that we can access the resources we need,” bin Salman said. “We need to do this as fast and furious as possible.”

Lithium production in the kingdom could start as early as 2027 with the help of possible collaborations, the minister added.

A key element in batteries for electric devices and vehicles, lithium is a highly sought-after raw material, particularly for the energy transition and advanced technologies and as Saudi Arabia strives to diversify its economy away from oil.

The kingdom is also working to become a hub for processing these essential minerals, as it seeks to build supply chains more resilient to global disruptions. About two-thirds of the lithium processing market is currently controlled by China.

Saudi Arabia announced in December the successful extraction of lithium from brine samples in Aramco oil fields. A collaboration with Ma’aden, Aramco and local mining startup Lithium Infinity is underway to launch a commercial direct mining pilot program soon, al-Mudaifer said at the time.