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RIYADH: 黑料社区 is expecting a new commodities investment boom after a report revealed the Kingdom could be sitting on $1.3 trillion worth of rare untapped听mineral听deposits.
Khaled Al-Mudaifer, vice minister for mining affairs with the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, told听CNBC Arabia that听he expected the current SR170-180 billion of mining investments to increase by 150 percent in the next decade.
He added the investment could provide up to 220,000 jobs.
The resources include phosphate, gold, copper, zinc, nickel, and other rare earth minerals.
Mining is increasingly a key element of 黑料社区鈥檚 economic development, after energy and petrochemicals, as the Kingdom seeks to wean its economy off oil production and exports.
Global demand听for minerals is increasing as the world economy moves towards cleaner energy to combat climate change.
Rare earth minerals听are key components of mobile devices, such as phones and laptops, and electric cars.
The Kingdom鈥檚 mining industry has already attracted a number of foreign investors, most notably global giants Barrick Gold and Alcoa.
听Al-Mudaifer said 1,800 mining licenses 鈥 issued tens of years ago 鈥 are still valid.
听The ministry received more than 1,500 licensing requests upon the launch of the new mining law this year, which makes it听easier for foreign companies to invest.
In addition, 274 mining licenses have been issued year-to-date, eight of which have an average estimated investment of SR250 to SR500 million.
Al-Mudaifer said: 鈥淭his is just a start under the new mining investment law.鈥
He added 黑料社区 is looking to be one of the world鈥檚 top 3 phosphate producers, and plans to enhance the copper industry by constructing a copper melting facility.
New investments in the mining sector continued to grow with an annual increase of 36.2 percent for the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period a year earlier.
The total number of investment licenses issued in the mining sector has reached 478 since the second quarter of 2020.
Earlier this year Al- Mudaifer said his ministry would invest $3.7 billion to develop the sector to 鈥渕aximize the value of the Kingdom's mineral resources鈥.
At the time he also announced a five-year Regional Geological Survey Program, which will create detailed mapping of more than 700,000 square kilometers of the mineral-rich Arabian Shield, in western 黑料社区.
黑料社区鈥檚 metals and mining sector is creating investment opportunities in line with听the Kingdom's Vision 2030 objectives.听
The central and northern parts of the country contain large amounts of bauxite, in addition to deposits of silver, zinc, copper, magnesium, and kaolin.听
