Saudi Arabia seeks support from Australian miners to diversify its oil-dependent economy

Saudi Arabia is seeking support from Australian miners to support its $170 bn plan to build a mining industry, and diversify its oil-dependent economy this decade. Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef is in Australia this week to drum up interest in the miners, as reported in financialpost.com citing Bloomberg.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia claims it is sitting on top of $1.3 trn worth of untapped mineral deposits including copper, zinc, phosphates and gold.
Al-Khorayef said in an Interview in Sydney that Australian miners should ‘come, explore, do mining, the same as they are doing here. He said he had met with several smaller Australian miners already, and hoped to meet bigger players such as BHP Group Ltd and Rio Tinto Plc at a major mining conference in Sydney this week. He mentioned that Saudi investors are interested in this sector, but the country lacks domestic mining expertise and “you need to have partners who understand the sector quite well, and know how to utilize the resources.”
Saudi Arabia’s small mining industry is dominated by state miner Saudi Arabian Mining Co., commonly known as Maaden. The country should emulate Australia’s model of junior, private-sector miners that develop riskier and early-stage mines, the minister said. Battery metals such as lithium and nickel are already a focus for Maaden and Saudi Arabia, but the scale of resources is still unclear.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing a Vision 2030 project to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and embrace industries from mining to renewable energy and manufacturing. Of the $170 bn sought for mining, it envisages about 60% will come from private companies and the rest from state-owned entities.

Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished