Mining’s contribution to society, reimagining mining, and investing in new and emerging mining regions. It comes as part of Saudi Vision 2030’s goal to diversify the economy. The Kingdom has identified mining as a key sector of the future, with an untapped potential of $1.3 trillion. Saudi authorities have launched one of the world’s largest geophysical and geochemical surveys, on top of other reforms to fully take advantage of the growing industry. The future global economy is characterized by low-carbon technologies including electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines, organizers said, adding that these innovations are “powered by mined materials such as copper, zinc, tin, tungsten and lithium.” The development of the mining sector occupies a prominent position in Saudi Arabia’s program of diversifying its economy away from oil. The Government’s strategy includes establishing industries for extracting and processing the minerals, developing the transportation infrastructure to make the minerals accessible for processing and streamlining export procedures. In fact, Saudi Arabia proclaimed the mining industry into the “third pillar” of the Saudi economy after oil and petrochemicals.
Saudi Arabia possesses more mineral resources than any other country in the Gulf region. The soil in Saudi Arabia is rich in gold, copper, phosphate, and a wide array of industrial minerals. With some of the world’s largest reserves of phosphate and tantalum, and up to 20 Moz of gold in known deposits, Saudi Arabia is becoming a significant market for mineral extraction and processing which provide manufacturing opportunities to develop high value products for the growing demand of several advanced industries such as automotive, aerospace, solar and oil & gas. Investors in these opportunities will benefit from the Kingdom’s competitive advantage in energy and the provided financial incentives. The central and northern parts of the country contain large amounts of bauxite, in addition to deposits of silver, zinc, copper, magnesite, and kaolin. Over 40 types of mineral deposits have been identified so far in the Kingdom, with at least 15 industrial minerals with potential for extraction. Saudi Arabia is the world’s 19th largest economy, a member of the G20 and the largest economy in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region with the third-biggest current account surplus in the world. It is the world’s 16th largest exporter and the world’s 29th largest importer. The economy has grown very strongly in recent years. The Kingdom boasts some of the lowest energy prices for investment projects. It has a continuously expanding domestic market (annual population growth of 2.5%), which is adding to a young and consuming population with strong buying power. With excellent access to MENA markets, as well as the advanced and emerging economies of nearby Europe, Asia and Africa, market exposure for Saudi-based projects is not only vast but also highly diversified. The Kingdom’s economy ranks 4th in the world for macroeconomic stability, the economy has grown very strongly in recent years, benefiting from high oil prices and output, strong private sector activity, and increased government spending. The private sector is playing an increasingly larger role in the Saudi economy – it now accounts for 39.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP). The sector is expected to continue growing, especially as Saudi Arabia opens its doors further to foreign investment.