Easy Mine

Saudi Arabia considers new mining index in diversification push

wpmaster — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 09:13:00 +0000

SYDNEY: Saudi Arabia is considering setting up a new metals and mining stock exchange index as it looks to expand its resources sector to diversify away from hydrocarbons, a senior government official said on Friday.

Mining Minister Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef told Reuters in an interview in Sydney that his team met with Australian counterparts to learn more about a mining index, similar to Australia’s ASX 300 Metals & Mining sub-index that lists metals and mining firms including producers of gold, steel and precious metals.

“It is something we are studying but we have not made up our mind if it would be successful,” Al-Khorayef told Reuters.

“We have a secondary stock market in Saudi…its still evolving. We want to see if its better to have something for mining,” he said.

He did not say how many companies would potentially be included in the index.

Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange consists of the Tadawul main market and a parallel market that companies can join with fewer reporting requirements.

Riyadh’s efforts to build an economy that is not dependent on oil include a shift toward mining to explore the country’s untapped reserves of resources from copper to phosphate and gold.

The minister is at the International Mining and Resources Conference in Sydney this week to drum up investment interest. He said on Wednesday that the kingdom plans to award over a dozen mining exploration licenses to international investors.

Al-Khorayef said the separate index for mining would help put more focus on Saudi’s mining industry, and will enable them to benchmark it with markets like Australia, the UK and others.

“The idea is to help the sector grow faster. We definitely see a need for small and medium firms in the sector to access capital through capital markets,” he said.

Saudi’s stock markets are currently dominated by real estate, energy and trading firms, while there are a just a small number of mining companies with the state miner Saudi Arabian Mining Co, the Gulf’s largest miner, leading the pack.

“The whole idea (of a mining index) is to ensure that we have something that financing companies or financial institutions like banks can have good visibility on,” he said.

SEEKING PARTNERSHIPS

The Saudi government believes it has unused mineral resources worth about $1.33 trillion, with vast quantities of aluminum, phosphate, gold, copper and uranium, Al-Khorayef said.

Al-Khorayef said he held discussions with several mining companies in Sydney this week, including global mining giants like BHP Group, about collaborating on the exchange of knowledge, expertise and the adoption of their successful business model.

“In terms of ability to finance a lot of projects, Saudi Arabia is quite good. But we are always seeking partnerships because we are a great believer that it’s through collaboration that we can succeed,” he said.

“We want to encourage people who offer services to mining companies to come to Saudi either directly or through partnering with some local people. Everyone out there should be looking at Saudi as a potential market,” he said.

Saudi is hosting the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh in January, where it hopes to announce more details of its plans for the mining sector.

Saudi Arabia to auction five new mining exploration licenses in 2023

wpmaster — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 00:04:48 +0000

SYDNEY: Saudi Arabia plans to award over a dozen mining exploration licenses to international investors as it looks to enter the mining sector in a big way to diversify away from hydrocarbons, Mining Minister Bandar Al-Khorayef said on Wednesday.

Five new exploration sites are up for licensing and the Kingdom will release details of an additional 10 opportunities next year, the minister said in a speech at the International Mining and Resources Conference in Sydney.

“Strategically located at the heart of the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe, with a will and infrastructure and high domestic demand for minerals and metals, Saudi Arabia can be a main contributor to the growth of the mining sector,” Al-Khorayef told miners and energy industry leaders and experts.

Riyadh’s efforts to build an economy that’s not dependent on oil include a shift toward mining, with exploration of untapped reserves of resources from copper to phosphate and gold.

More than 145 licenses have been issued so far and the country has seen a 27 percent year-on-year growth in its mining revenue, the minister said.

“We have an ambitious strategy to attract investments worth $32 billion to mining and mineral sector. So this is only the beginning,” he added.

The Saudi government estimates its unused mineral resources at $1.33 trillion, with vast quantities of aluminum, phosphate, gold, copper and uranium, Al-Khorayef said.

The Saudi mining ministry said last week that it will launch the bidding process for the licenses in Bir Umq, Jabal Idsas, Umm Hadid, Jabal Sahabiyah and Ar Ridaniyah.

Al-Khorayef said the Kingdom plans to move beyond exploration and extraction to processing and manufacturing.

“Supported by our increasing supply of competitively priced renewable energy, our ambition is to become a leading green metal refining and processing hub,” he said, adding that the country plans to invest to build a strong value chain for the rapidly growing electrical vehicles sector.

His comments came as the CEO of Saudi mining firm Al Masane Al Kobra Mining Co., known as AMAK, said he expected expects to see profits of SR45 million ($11.9 million) in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The projection comes just days after Saudi Arabian Mining Co., known as Ma’aden, reported a 71 percent jump in its net profit to reach SR2.7 billion in the third quarter of this year, over the same period a year ago.

The firm’s sales also witnessed a 50 percent rise in the third quarter to reach SR10 billion.

During the third quarter of 2022, Ma’aden started extracting gold from the Mansourah-Massarah site for the first time.

Widely touted to be Ma’aden’s largest gold project to date, the plant is expected to produce an average of 250,000 ounces per annum, which will increase the firm’s current gold mining capacity by 70 percent.

In September, during an exclusive interview with Arab News on the sidelines of the Local Content Forum, Ma’aden CEO Robert Wilt said the firm expects to contribute over SR88 billion to the Kingdom’s gross domestic product and create more than 47,000 jobs by 2040.

“The mining sector is growing. It was considered a dirty extractive industry. And now we aspire to become a role model for ESG (environmental, social and governance). We’re deploying technology that’s unheard of. We’re developing new techniques for extracting minerals which are better for the environment and decarbonizing (the) world,” said Wilt.

Saudi Arabia to auction five new mining exploration licenses in 2023

wpmaster — Sun, 30 Oct 2022 16:54:00 +0000

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is planning to auction five new mining exploration licenses with copper, zinc, lead and iron deposits for local and international investors in 2023, the Kingdom’s mining ministry said on Sunday.
The ministry will launch the bidding process later for the licenses in Bir Umq, Jabal Idsas, Umm Hadid, Jabal Sahabiyah and Ar Ridaniyah, the statement said.