The News
Saudi Arabia has drawn investors from China and India to tap the $2.5 trillion in minerals the government believes lies beneath the kingdom.
Nine mining and metals deals were announced in Riyadh worth more than $9.32 billion, including a $2 billion deal with India’s Vedanta for copper mining and up to $1.6 billion from China’s Zijin primarily for zinc.
Troves of untapped resources critical to the energy transition, including bauxite, copper, gold, and phosphate has put mining at the front of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic transformation agenda, with massive resources being poured into discovery and development to turn the minerals into end products. Momentum on foreign investment — something Riyadh has so far fallen short on year after year — signals the importance, and promise, of the sector.
Vedanta was lured by incentives including land, water, and power services, and the possibility of a lower cost of capital there, the company’s base metals CEO told Reuters.