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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":718,"relatedVideos":719},112468060958949,"928ecfda-274f-4414-8b27-cc5baceb9972","How is Saudi Arabia’s critical mineral drive progressing?","how-is-saudi-arabias-critical-mineral-drive-progressing","article/how-is-saudi-arabias-critical-mineral-drive-progressing",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":553,"content":563,"excerpt":684,"featured":51,"reporter":685,"_editable":689,"component":690,"seo_title":543,"categories":691,"visibility":710,"author_company":49,"featured_image":711,"seo_description":684,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":716,"formattedArticleDate":717},"f3451cf6-bff9-408e-85be-6c7808daa59d","2025-02-06 00:00",[550],{"slug":551,"name":552},"saudi-arabia","Saudi Arabia",[554],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":557},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":558,"image":559,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":560},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":564,"content":565},"doc",[566,583,588,601,606,611,618,623,628,633,638,649,654,659,664,669,674,679],{"type":567,"attrs":568,"content":569},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[570,573,581],{"text":571,"type":572},"Saudi Arabia is manoeuvring to become an important","text",{"text":574,"type":572,"marks":575}," hub for critical mineral mining and refining",[576],{"type":577,"attrs":578},"link",{"href":579,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/how-saudi-arabia-and-morocco-are-shaping-the-ev-battery-supply-chain?_branch_match_id=1544412214075265423&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=share&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXT0rNS87ITSzKzs3MSy1KzCnWSywo0MvJzMvW9wrMDfYzz3f0CUyyrytKTUstKsrMS49PKsovL04tsnXOKMrPTQUAA5VniEgAAAA%3D","url",{"text":582,"type":572}," as part of its “Vision 2030” economic diversification strategy. After announcing its arrival into the industry in 2022, the Kingdom has leveraged the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Ma’aden, the country’s state miner, to target strategic investments both at home and abroad.",{"type":567,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":572},"Home to rare earths, lithium, phosphate, and copper deposits, the Saudi government aims to lift the domestic mining sector’s GDP contribution from $17 billion to $75 billion by 2030, offering to derisk mining investments through public financial incentives.",{"type":567,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591,593,599],{"text":592,"type":572},"A core focus has been on critical mineral processing to support value-added industries ",{"text":594,"type":572,"marks":595},"such as electric vehicle (EV) production",[596],{"type":577,"attrs":597},{"href":598,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"https://rhomotion.com/news/the-middle-east-ev-market-trends-investment-and-opportunities/",{"text":600,"type":572},". The Saudi government has set an ambitious target to produce 500,000 EVs domestically by 2030.",{"type":567,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604],{"text":605,"type":572},"The Kingdom has positioned itself as a geopolitically ‘neutral’ player in the critical minerals sector to attract investments from China, India and Western players alike.",{"type":567,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609],{"text":610,"type":572},"And the strategy is paying dividends: India’s Vedanta recently announced a $2 billion commitment for a copper-processing facility in the Kingdom, while in January, oil giant Saudi Aramco (Aramco) and Ma’aden announced a joint venture targeting lithium extraction , targeting commercial-scale production by 2027.",{"type":612,"attrs":613,"content":615},"heading",{"level":614,"textAlign":49},4,[616],{"text":617,"type":572},"Domestic potential?",{"type":567,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":572},"At the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh in January, Saudi officials touted $100 billion worth of domestic investment opportunities, discussing plans to expand geological exploration targeting lithium, rare earths, copper, and nickel deposits. The Saudi government estimates the country’s untapped mineral resources to be worth $2.5 trillion.",{"type":567,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626],{"text":627,"type":572},"Aside from offering capital to de-risk project development, the Kingdom has reformed its mining laws to align closer with investor-friendly jurisdictions like Australia and Canada, resulting in a surge in active mine licenses since 2023. ",{"type":567,"attrs":629,"content":630},{"textAlign":49},[631],{"text":632,"type":572},"Currently, Saudi Arabia is home to the Jabal Sayid copper project, a collaboration between Ma’aden and Barrick Gold, and is the world’s sixth-largest producer of phosphate rock, commissioning projects to increase production – although it lacks the purified phosphoric acid (PPA) capacity needed for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell production. ",{"type":567,"attrs":634,"content":635},{"textAlign":49},[636],{"text":637,"type":572},"In particular, the Kingdom is leveraging expertise in oil extraction to position itself as a global leader in the adoption of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology, focusing on oilfield brines. In late 2024, Aramco and Saudi Lithium Infinity (Lihytech) announced the first successful lithium extraction from oilfield brine at pilot scale.",{"type":567,"attrs":639,"content":640},{"textAlign":49},[641,643],{"text":642,"type":572},"Three announced lithium projects are projected to supply over 20,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by the end of the decade, according to the ",{"text":644,"type":572,"marks":645},"Benchmark Lithium Forecast.",[646],{"type":577,"attrs":647},{"href":648,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/lithium/data-reports/forecast",{"type":567,"attrs":650,"content":651},{"textAlign":49},[652],{"text":653,"type":572},"Additionally, Saudi Arabia is forecast to produce 60,000 tonnes of pet needle coke from oil feedstocks by 2030, supporting a 20,000-tonne synthetic anode facility, alongside a planned 20,000-tonne natural graphite anode facility. ",{"type":612,"attrs":655,"content":656},{"level":614,"textAlign":49},[657],{"text":658,"type":572},"How is the Kingdom expanding its global reach?",{"type":567,"attrs":660,"content":661},{"textAlign":49},[662],{"text":663,"type":572},"To secure resources to support domestic mineral processing, the Kingdom has also pursued a number of International partnerships – reaching preliminary agreements with several African countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia, to strengthen access to resources.",{"type":567,"attrs":665,"content":666},{"textAlign":49},[667],{"text":668,"type":572},"Notably, the US views Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner for investments in Africa, often in jurisdictions that Western firms have long viewed to be too risky. ",{"type":567,"attrs":670,"content":671},{"textAlign":49},[672],{"text":673,"type":572},"In early 2023, Saudi Arabia launched Manara Minerals, a joint venture between Ma’aden and the Public Investment Fund (PIF), with a mandate to begin acquiring overseas mining assets. ",{"type":567,"attrs":675,"content":676},{"textAlign":49},[677],{"text":678,"type":572},"Although its acquisitions so far have been limited to a 10% stake in Vale Base Metals in early 2024, in January it agreed to acquire a minority stake in Barrick Gold’s Reko Diq copper project in Pakistan, a project positioned to become the next major greenfield copper development.",{"type":567,"attrs":680,"content":681},{"textAlign":49},[682],{"text":683,"type":572},"The fund is also reported to be in early stage discussions with Chile’s Codelco regarding potential copper investments in South America, while also exploring lithium opportunities in the region.","Saudi Arabia is manoeuvring to become an important hub for critical mineral mining and refining as part of its “Vision 2030” economic diversification strategy. After announcing its arrival into the industry in 2022, the Kingdom has leveraged the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Ma’aden, the country’s state miner, to target strategic investments both at home […]",[686],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":687},{"job_title":558,"image":688,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},{"filename":560},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"f3451cf6-bff9-408e-85be-6c7808daa59d\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[692,695,698,701,703,705,708],{"slug":693,"name":694},"copper","Copper",{"slug":696,"name":697},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":699,"name":700},"geopolitics","Geopolitics",{"slug":702,"name":8},"lithium",{"slug":704,"name":150},"nickel",{"slug":706,"name":707},"phosphate","Phosphate",{"slug":709,"name":414},"rare-earths","private",{"id":49,"alt":712,"name":712,"focus":712,"title":712,"source":712,"filename":713,"copyright":712,"fieldtype":714,"meta_data":715,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/be75bca5df/bm-saudi-arabia-1.jpg","asset",{"alt":712,"title":712,"source":712,"copyright":712},"Feb 06, 2025","6th February 2025",[],[],1783958074505]