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Saudi Arabia to Propose Investment Opportunities in Six Mining Locations

Engineers explore a min in Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
Engineers explore a min in Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia to Propose Investment Opportunities in Six Mining Locations

Engineers explore a min in Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
Engineers explore a min in Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

The mining sector in Saudi Arabia is witnessing growth and development with more investment opportunities expected to be proposed in 2024.

Six locations will be the targets of the fifth round of exploration. They include gold, copper and zinc and span an area of 940 square kms.

Assistant Deputy Minister for Mining Enablement at the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources Abdulrahman AlBelushi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the ministry has granted over 500 exploration licenses.

Exploration has witnessed a qualitative leap and it is reaching new heights year after year, he added. This has paved the way for the development of new mines.

The development can all be credited to the amendment of the mining investment regulation, he stated.

Saudi Arabia’s mining wealth is estimated at SAR9.6 trillion (USD2.5 trillion), he went on to say.

He underscored the importance of the optimal exploitation of this wealth so that it can become part of national industries and so that its products can help grow industrial cities in target areas such as cars and planes.

On the Arabian Shield region, AlBelushi said the Saudi Geological Survey has carried out extensive work in the area, using various geophysical and geochemical tools.

Work is underway to develop accurate maps of this work, he revealed.

Saudi Arabia boasts massive mineral wealth, and it will be explored through every mean possible, he stressed.

Saudi Arabia has sought to develop the mining sector in recent years. It launched the largest and most modern geological survey in the world, covering an area of 600,000 kms of the Arabian Shield.

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World Still Split Over Money as Clock Ticks on COP29

A man stands next to the logo of the United Nations Climate Change Conference "COP 29" in Azerbaijan (Reuters).
A man stands next to the logo of the United Nations Climate Change Conference "COP 29" in Azerbaijan (Reuters).
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World Still Split Over Money as Clock Ticks on COP29

A man stands next to the logo of the United Nations Climate Change Conference "COP 29" in Azerbaijan (Reuters).
A man stands next to the logo of the United Nations Climate Change Conference "COP 29" in Azerbaijan (Reuters).

A fresh draft deal published Thursday at the deadlocked COP29 climate talks shows rich and poor countries still divided as time runs out to strike a finance agreement for developing nations.
The streamlined text released in Azerbaijan recognizes developing countries need a trillion dollars per year to fight global warming, but does not present a much-sought figure needed to land the deal.
This will be the focus as nations go back to the negotiating table with just a day to go until COP29 is supposed to conclude in Baku, AFP reported.
The draft reflects the broad and opposing positions of developed countries -- which are obligated to pay climate finance -- and the developing countries that receive it.
"The new finance text presents two extreme ends of the aisle without much in between," said Li Shuo, director of the China climate hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
The main sticking points -- who should pay, how much and the type of funding -- remain unresolved in the slimmed-down 10-page document.
Ali Mohamed, the chair of the African Group of Negotiators, said the "elephant in the room" was the lack of a concrete number.
"This is the reason we are here... but we are no closer and we need the developed countries to urgently engage on this matter," said Mohamed, who is Kenya's climate envoy.
Rich countries have been under pressure to say how much they are willing to provide developing countries to wean off fossil fuels and build resilience against disaster.
Some developing countries have pushed for a final commitment of $1.3 trillion, mostly in grants from government coffers, and not loans they say add to debt.
The European Union and the United States, two of the biggest climate finance providers, had said they would not reveal a figure until the scope of any deal was much clearer.
"The fact there is no number specified for the climate finance goal is an insult to the millions of people on the frontlines bearing the brunt of climate change impacts," said Greenpeace's Jasper Inventor.
Mohamed Adow, a Kenyan climate activist, also lamented the lack of clarity around a figure.
"We came here to talk about money. The way you measure money is with numbers. We need a cheque but all we have right now is a blank piece of paper," said the founding director of think tank Power Shift Africa.
Developing countries, excluding China, will need $1 trillion a year in foreign assistance by 2030.
This number rises to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035, according to an expert economic assessment commissioned by the United Nations.
But many of the nations obligated to help cover this cost face political and fiscal pressures, and insist they cannot rely on their balance sheets alone.