Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) has announced its intention to invest in the Kingdom’s mining sector for the long term to expand its presence in the region.
Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of ERG, said that the Future Minerals Forum, which was held in Riyadh in January, revealed the enormous mineral capabilities of Saudi Arabia, and stimulated foreign investment in general.
He added that ERG has been particularly motivated to increase investment and expand exploration operations in the Kingdom, announcing an endeavor to take advantage of the Saudi incentive package under the new mining investment law to boost its investments in the country.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Sobotka said that the Eurasian Resources Group would work to benefit from its presence in Saudi Arabia to maximize mining production, especially in the field of cobalt, and to contribute to the implementation of the group’s regional development strategy in the Middle East and North Africa regions.
He also revealed that the legal reforms of the investment environment in the Kingdom, and the company’s ability to obtain high-quality geological data, under the agreements reached on the sidelines of the Future Metals Forum, will allow ERG to expand and use its capabilities in early exploration by using technology and attracting Saudi talents.
According to Sobotka, ERG plans to invest $50 million in the Saudi market, with the potential to increase this figure on an annual basis.
He added that the Kingdom served as a strategic base for an advanced and high-impact center to meet the demand for minerals in a sustainable manner.
Sobotka also noted that the group would work on early technology exploration, on a large scale, especially with regard to transition metals used in the battery industry in the Saudi Dawadmi region.
He revealed that the ERG already obtained licenses within the framework of its endeavor to carry out more exploration operations through the Technical Monitoring Department, while working to advance technological development through industrial partnerships in the Kingdom.
He also said that Saudi Arabia provides an exceptional environment to help continue to produce basic materials for the production of batteries and renewable energy systems in the long term, as it enjoys a vast land for exploration with sound prospects for the future, in light of the presence of a young, ambitious and highly skilled workforce, a well-established infrastructure, and a stable and affordable energy.
According to Sobotka, the Eurasian Resources Group signed a memorandum of understanding with Maaden to build a state-of-the-art center to conduct more research on effective and advanced ways to accelerate the pace of exploration inside Saudi Arabia, in order to meet the demand for minerals in a sustainable manner.
