From CNBC, January 15:
Saudi Arabia vows to be ‘fast and furious’ in mining as it reveals $100 billion investment
- Saudi Arabia last year increased the valuation of its unexploited mineral resources from $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion, boosted by the discovery of rare earth elements and metals.
- The kingdom on Wednesday announced a new mineral investment project valued at $100 billion, with $20 billion already in the final engineering phase or under construction.
- Investment in critical minerals mining and processing must be happening “as fast and furious as possible” in Saudi Arabia, its energy minister said at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia is pushing ahead to put itself on the global critical minerals map, announcing a number of deals, investment plans and discoveries at its annual Future Minerals Forum in the capital Riyadh.
Saudi Vice Minister of Mining Affairs Khalid al-Mudaifer announced Wednesday the development of a new mineral investment project valued at $100 billion, and that $20 billion of it was already in the final engineering phase or under construction.
While the vice minister did not provide further details, Saudi officials have discussed plans to significantly expand the country’s exploration for lithium, as well as for other critical minerals and rare earth elements including copper, gold, zinc, phosphate and nickel.
In early 2024, the kingdom’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources increased its estimate of the value of its unexploited mineral resources from $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion, boosted by the discovery of the aforementioned elements and metals. At the Future Minerals Forum in January 2024, the Saudi government established a $182 million incentive program for minerals exploration....
....MUCH MORE
January 12, 2024 - Saudi Arabia Raises Estimate Of Mineral Resource Value 90% To $2.5 Trillion
*The introduction to March 2012's "Saudi Arabia to Become the Saudi Arabia of Oil Deliveries (A Whole Lot of Oil Cometh)":
If you do a search for "the Saudi Arabia of...". Google returns around one million hits, from "Maine to become the Saudi Arabia of wind" to "Mongolia: the Saudi Arabia of Coal" to "America, the Saudi Arabia of plastic packaging" to, well you get the idea. As far back as 2009 Kate Galbraith did a post at the NYT's Green blog that asked readers for suggestions on replacing the trope. Not gonna happen.
Oh 'effing 'eff. I just checked the link and the very first hit is The Economist, January 11, 2023:
Saudi Arabia wants to be the Saudi Arabia of minerals
economist.com
https://www.economist.com › business › 2024/01/111 day ago — Saudi Arabia wants to be the Saudi Arabia of minerals. The kingdom plans to be digging up plenty more than oil. Railroad tracks by a quarry ...
There is still a chance the Kingdom could become The Saudi Arabia of sand, though the stuff they have on the surface isn't worth much; the grains get blown around by the wind and rounded-off, losing the sharp corners that the sand connoisseur looks for.
Beneath the surface however...
Or, if your silica sommelier can procure some primo Indian riverine, heaven!
