Saudi Arabia has identified 50 mining sites to be offered to investors, Asharq Al-Awsat reported citing Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef.
Saudi Arabia expects its mineral wealth to exceed earlier estimates of $1.3 trillion as the Kingdom plans to triple spending on the exploration of metals over the next three years.
The value of the global mining market is expected to increase to $206 trillion in 2022 and to $335 trillion in 2026, up from $184 trillion in 2021, constituting a rise fueled by post-pandemic surge in commodity prices, MEED reported.
The Middle East’s $16 billion mining market, with the Kingdom representing 38 percent of it, is expected to witness a fraction of the growth, according to MEED.
Mining is increasingly a key element of Saudi Arabia’s economic development, after energy and petrochemicals, as the Kingdom seeks to wean its economy off oil production and exports.
Source: www.arabnews.com
