According to Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and natural resources, the country has encouraged innovation to build a smart mining environment and has prioritized talent and human capital to ensure mining success.
Bandar Alkhorayef, speaking at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town on Monday, said global demand for essential minerals is increasing and will continue to increase.
“It is the obligation of governments to supply this need while also creating socially and environmentally sustainable mining habitats.”
The minister stated that the Kingdom is aiming to develop a mining ecosystem that ensures openness, sustainability, and simplicity of doing business in order to provide investors in the mining sector with an extraordinary experience.
In 2021, the Saudi mining sector generated record revenues of SR727 million ($194 million), garnering more than SR30 billion in investments and aiming to stimulate additional investments worth SR120 billion.
“The infrastructure required to support mining is critical to the sector’s success.” Alkhorayef stated, “We are developing it to bring in investment prospects for the mining sector.”
The Saudi minister emphasized the importance of geological surveys, saying that the data from such studies “de-risks mining projects.”
“After studying the experiences of other nations, Saudi Arabia devised the mining policy as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030,” he stated.
Saudi Arabia has been attempting to change the mining sector’s regulations and legislation to make it more attractive to investors.
The Kingdom wants the industry to contribute more to growth, diversification, job creation, and the transition to renewable energy.
