RIYADH, 23 February 2006 — The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden), announced today that it has awarded a $133 million program services contract to WorleyParsons. The contract was signed jointly by Dr. Abdallah E. Dabbagh, president and chief executive officer of Maaden, and William E. Hall, representing Worley Arabia Ltd. The signing was held at Maaden’s headquarters in Riyadh.
The contract is for the provision of engineering and project management services for its Phosphate project and covers the development of the Phosphate mine at Al-Jalamid in the north and the chemicals complex, town site and related infrastructure at Raz Az Zawr on the east coast of the Kingdom. The infrastructure to be developed will also support Maaden’s aluminum project, and further industrial development in the new Minerals Industrial City at Raz Az Zawr.
During construction, the direct work force on this project will total some eight thousand employees.
When completed, the phosphate project will be the largest integrated fertilizer plant in the world, producing some 3 million tons per year of diamonnium phosphate (DAP), which will represent 10 percent of global DAP export.
The phosphate project, together with the related infrastructure represents an investment of approximately $2.5 billion. It will, when completed, provide over 1,700 full-time jobs for Saudi nationals along with many additional job opportunities in related support areas and will contribute in a substantive way to diversification of the Saudi economy.
This contract is a significant step toward achieving Maaden’s objective of developing the mineral resources of the Kingdom and complements the recent signing by Finance Minister Dr. Ibrahim A. Al-Asaf and the awarding of the North-South Railway Project management services contract to a consortium comprised of The Louis Berger Group, Khatib & Alami, Canrail and Systra.