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Future Minerals Forum: MoUs Signed, 33 New Exploration Licenses Issued

Part of third edition of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) - SPA
Part of third edition of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) - SPA
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Future Minerals Forum: MoUs Signed, 33 New Exploration Licenses Issued

Part of third edition of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) - SPA
Part of third edition of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) - SPA

The third edition of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF), organized by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, has witnessed the signing of several memoranda of understanding (MoU) between a number of government agencies, companies and institutions participating in the forum. New exploration sites were announced as well as other incentives to promote mining exploration.
The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) signed MoU for cooperation in the fields of mining and mineral resources, with a special focus on the supply of vital minerals, which play an important role in global energy transitions.
The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and the Ministry of Investment also signed MoU with Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd. to cooperate in evaluating and exploring investment opportunities in the Kingdom's copper value chain, covering the initial, middle and final stages, SPA reported.
Furthermore, the Innovation Mining Oasis Initiative was launched in cooperation between the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program, the Geological Survey Authority, the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden).
The first day of the forum also saw the announcement of unexplored mineral estimates, rising from $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion, and the unveiling of new incentives to boost mining exploration by about SAR685 million ($182 million) in cooperation with the Ministry of Investment.
The forum witnessed the submission of the exploration license competition for the Jabal Sayid mineral belt, which contains a large wealth of base and precious metal ores, with an area of more than 4,000 square kilometers. Also, 33 new exploration licenses were submitted through competition within the upcoming licensing rounds for 2024.

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Türkiye's Central Bank Lowers Key Interest Rate to 47.5%

A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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Türkiye's Central Bank Lowers Key Interest Rate to 47.5%

A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Türkiye’s central bank lowered its key interest rate by 2.5 percentage points to 47.5% on Thursday, carrying out its first rate cut in nearly two years as it tries to control soaring inflation.
Citing slowing inflation, the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said it was reducing its one-week repo rate to 47.5% from the current 50%.
The committee said in a statement that the overall inflation trend was “flat” in November and that indicators suggest it is likely to decline in December, The Associated Press reported.

Demand within the country was slowing, helping to reduce inflation, it said.
Inflation in Türkiye surged in recent years due to declining foreign reserves and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unconventional economic policy of lowering rates as a way to tame inflation — which he later abandoned.
Inflation stood at 47% in November, after having peaked at 85% in late 2022, although independent economists say the real rate is much higher than the official figures.

Most economists argue that higher interest rates help control inflation, but the Turkish leader had fired central bank governors for failing to fall in line with his previous rate-cutting policies.

Following a return to more conventional policies under a new economic team, the central bank raised interest rates from 8.5% to 50% between May 2023 and March 2024. The bank had kept rates steady at 50% until Thursday's rate cut.
The high inflation has left many households struggling to afford basic goods, such as food and housing.