Sultan J. Shawli, deputy minister for mineral resources, speaking to Arab News at the Saudi Mining and Minerals conference in Riyadh.

The mining and mineral sectors have very good potential and are contributing significantly to the economic diversification of the Kingdom, said Sultan J. Shawli, deputy minister for mineral resources.

In an interview with the Arab News on the first day of Saudi Mining and Minerals 2015 — international conference on mining and minerals in the Kingdom — Shawli said that the mining and minerals are deeply significant to the Saudi economy in terms of industrial development, job opportunities and economic diversification.

It is therefore important to provide such platforms with the conferences and exhibition with industry experts from various countries brainstorming on ideas and exhibiting their products to usher in rapid growth in the key sector.

Asked about the expectations and aims and objectives of this forum, the deputy minister said: “We have promising areas and virgin areas. Virgin areas need Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to join the ongoing work to fully exploit the good mining and minerals potential in the Kingdom.”

But he said: “Before mining we want supervision because we have a lot of remote areas unexploited so far, which need to be handled properly.

“The Kingdom has huge area of about about two million square km and part of it is the Arabian sea and it is rich with ancient mines especially gold, copper, lead, zinc. We have five gold mines, two copper and zinc mines, which will help immensely in economic diversification,” he pointed out.

“We are expecting a good flow of foreign investment into the mining and minerals sector to fully utilize the potential,” he said.

“We are encouraging private sector to invest in mining and minerals,” he added.

He said: “Minerals have very good potential and are significantly contributing to the economy in terms of industrial development and economic diversification. It is not going to be affected by fall in oil prices.”

The deputy minister added: ”In fact we are going to issue more licenses for interested companies in this sector including foreign investors as this forum gives them a good opportunity to know about mining and minerals in the Kingdom.”

He added: “You know something very important Saudi Arabia is one of the safest countries, which gives investors opportunity to venture into the Saudi market. You can see so many foreign countries participating in this forum’s exhibition and there are many others interested in joining the mining projects — from Australia, Canada and European companies.”

The deputy minister said: ”To give you example Canadian mining company Barrick Gold has secured a joint venture with the Maaden and as per the deal, each company will own a 50 percent interest in the Jabal Sayid copper mine project.”

He said the Saudi Arabian mining company was formed in 1997 to facilitate the development of mineral resources and explore mining opportunities.

“Now Maaden is not only the best company in the Kingdom exploring and exploiting minerals, but also one of the fastest growing mining companies in the world,” he said.

“We have issued more than 2,000 licenses to about 800 SMEs to work in mining and the mineral sector but Maaden is our brand par excellence with the huge success it has experienced in the short duration,” he underlined.

The new copper mine is expected to produce approximately 100 to 300 million pounds of copper during its first five years of operation.

The gold business now includes five mines and more than 11 million ounces of Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC)-compliant gold resources are operational at exploration sites, he said,

Related articles across the web

• Barrick Gold shutters copper division, Utah office in cost-cutting drive
• Barrick closing Utah office and copper unit in cost-cutting effort
• Barrick Gold cyanide spill in Argentine mine analyzed by UN team of experts
• Newmont details Australian goal at Denver Gold Forum
• Argentina judge suspends some of Barrick Gold's operations after spill
• Who's The Buyer For This $700 Million Package Of Gold Mines?
• 'I was about to die': Mecca stampede survivor recounts panic - video
• Argentina suspends some Barrick operations after spill
• Saudi Arabia: 50,000 Animals To Be Sacrificed In Riyadh As Part Of Eid Al-Adha Sacrificial Rites (Author: Arab News)
• Barrick Gold encouraged by interest in U.S. gold asset sale