Opinion Mining Riyadh seeks to become ‘rule shaper, not rule taker’ in mining Saudi Arabia's ambitions for a super-region will be on display at this week's Future Minerals Forum By Frank Kane January 13, 2025, 7:47 PM Solidcore Resources Workers and equipment at the Kyzyl gold mine in Kazakhstan. Riyadh is aiming for a mining 'super-region' to stretch across Central Asia and Africa Saudi Arabia is of course a world capital of the hydrocarbon industry, but for the past four years the country has been seeking to show that oil and gas are not the only treasures beneath the desert sands. The fourth Future Minerals Forum opens in Riyadh on Tuesday, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s non-oil natural resources and the mining industry that seeks to extract them. The forum, held in the King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre attached to the famous Ritz-Carlton hotel, has become progressively bigger. Now the target is 9,000 attendees, putting it on a par with the autumn gathering of the Future Investment Initiative Institute. That is a sign of the importance attached to minerals and mining as part of the Vision 2030 transformation. The message – as propounded by Bandar Alkhorayef, the minister of industry and mineral resources – is twofold. First, the country has the potential to become a critical supplier to the world of vital mineral resources, including untapped deposits of rare earth metals. At the 2024 forum, the value of these resources was estimated at approximately $2.5 trillion – significantly more than Saudi Arabia’s GDP. Having those riches in the ground is one thing, but bringing them to market is another. A good deal of this year’s forum will revolve around the implementation strategy for extraction and marketing – with foreign help, where appropriate and forthcoming. Saudi Arabia’s second long-term aim in minerals is even more ambitious. The minister sees the country as the hub of a “super-region” that includes Africa and Central Asia, as well as other parts of the Middle East. Rather than simply exporting raw commodities to East or West, the aim is to refine and process them locally, adding value, jobs and technology to the Saudi economy and becoming a trading centre for the world. The kingdom wants to be “rule shapers, not rule takers”, Alkhorayef has said. Another aspect of the super-region strategy is for the kingdom’s investment institutions, such as the Public Investment Fund, to invest in mining and minerals around the world, making it a pool of capital to exploit the materials that will power future development and the energy transition. There is little doubt that Saudi Arabia has the resources domestically. The question is: exactly how much of the major global commodities and rare earth elements does it possess? The Saudi Geological Survey has been working for more than two decades, but still has significant areas of the kingdom to explore fully. So far, the survey has turned up potentially big reserves of gold, copper, phosphates, bauxite, rare earth minerals and uranium. It is continually reassessing the value of these finds – so expect an upgrade on the $2.5 trillion. The national champion in Saudi minerals is the mining company Ma’aden, two-thirds owned by PIF but with a Tadawul listing. Ma’aden is also at the forefront of the international angle to Saudi mining investment, via its presence alongside PIF in the Manara Minerals Investment Company. This week’s Future Minerals Forum will be an opportunity for these mining sector leaders to update global markets on their international investment plans. There are challenges in the Saudi minerals strategy, of course, not least in terms of geopolitics. The kingdom has so far been neutral in its global view, doing deals with both East and West to further its aims. But can it maintain that neutrality in the ever-increasing polarisation between the US and China, especially during the second Trump presidency? Europe too is a conundrum. It is the closest market for the commodities and rare earth materials that Saudi Arabia is looking to export, but its governments and big businesses are still hidebound by considerations about environmental, social and governance standards. These could be an issue in their dealings with Saudi Arabia. But in an era of rising prices for essential minerals that are in short supply, this is a seller’s market. Over the next few days in Riyadh, we will learn how Saudi Arabia is planning to take maximum advantage of its position at the centre of the minerals super-region. Frank Kane is Editor-at-Large of AGBI and an award-winning business journalist. He acts as a consultant to the Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia Read more from Frank Kane He came in like a wrecking ball but how will oil markets react? Despite ‘greenlash’, UAE banks will stick to net zero commitment Riyadh seeks to become ‘rule shaper, not rule taker’ in mining