Ministry of Industry official says foreign firms to invest in Saudi mining sector ‘soon’

Logo of Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources

Saleh Al Agili, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, expects foreign companies to enter and invest in the Saudi mining sector soon, following the implementation of the new Mining Investment Law.

In an interview with Al Arabiya TV, Al Agili said the Kingdom's mining sector offers various opportunities for local and international investors.

A detailed study was conducted for a number of investment opportunities in the sector, which resulted in setting goals such as expanding the production of phosphate fertilizers to make Saudi Arabia one of the world's three largest fertilizer producers.

The goals also include boosting the production of precious metals and base metals such as gold and copper by 10 times the current production levels, and helping the Kingdom become one of the top 10 countries in the production of aluminum and its associated manufacturing industries.

The mining licenses are divided into three types, namely exploration licenses, metal detection licenses, and utilization or mining licenses.

Al Agili said that the mechanism for issuing licenses has been re-governed to speed up the issuance process and increase the duration and area of mining licenses to reach 100 square kilometers.

This is in addition to improving transparency in the procedures for granting licenses, as well as adding some enabling rights to investors, such as the ability to mortgage the license to have access to additional financing channels.

The ministry aims to attract investments worth SAR 115 billion in the mining sector by 2025. Government revenues – both direct and indirect - from the sector currently stands at about SAR 5 billion and are targeted to rise to SAR 10 billion by 2030.

He also expects the sector's contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) to quadruple to reach SAR 287 billion.

According to data compiled by Argaam, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar Alkhorayef, earlier endorsed the executive regulations of the Mining Investment Law, which came into effect on Jan. 1, 2021.

Since then, the ministry issued 76 licenses for metal exploration in various regions of the Kingdom, and 122 licenses for building materials quarries.