JEDDAH, 21 April 2004 — Efforts are under way to establish a large mineral industrial complex in the eastern Saudi city of Jubail at a total cost of SR22 billion, according to Dr. Abdullah Al-Dabbagh, chairman of Saudi Minerals Company (Maaden).
Addressing the Arab aluminum conference (Arabal) in Bahrain, Dr. Dabbagh said Saudi Arabia would achieve a leading position in aluminum industry when the alumina refinery and aluminum smelter at the complex go on stream in 2008.
He emphasized Maaden’s efforts to develop bauxite and phosphate projects to create value-added mineral industries in the Kingdom. “These projects will meet the requirements of both local and regional markets,” he told the conference, which began on Monday. Arabal is a biennial world conference and is hosted in turn by Kuwait, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain. The Arabal 2004 seeks to examine some of the critical issues facing the industry today and will look at the important role the region plays in the development of the aluminum industry.
Bahrain’s Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman opened the conference whose main theme is “Critical Issues, Global Trends and Drivers.” Some 600 delegates from 30 countries are participating.
In his keynote address to the conference, Dr. Dabbagh said the Gulf region now accounted for 10 percent of the total global primary aluminum production and is a major source of quality aluminum products for consumers around the world.
He said the planned north-south railway line would boost the Kingdom’s mineral industry. Saudi Arabia recently signed a $10 million deal with Canadian, French and Saudi consulting firms to design a 1,600 km railway linking northern mineral deposits to the Gulf port of Jubail. The Kingdom will launch an international tender for construction of the railway, which is expected to cost around $1.2 billion, once the firms complete their studies. Maaden plans to use the new railway line to transport bauxite and phosphates to Jubail. The line will be state-owned and a specialized body will operate it. Dr. Dabbagh said the railway line would also lead to the establishment of many other mineral projects worth SR5.5 billion to exploit the Kingdom’s vast manganese, iron, nickel, titanium, silica and calcium carbonate.