JEDDAH, 15 November 2006 — Licensed mining companies in the Kingdom have manufactured 265 million tons of raw minerals in 2005 — a 28 million ton increase from 2004 — from an area of 162 square kilometers across the Kingdom. The figures were recently released by the Agency for Mineral Wealth.
Crown Prince Sultan thanked Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi for the achievements of his ministry. The Agency for Mineral Wealth is part of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
The business establishments in the mineral resources exported 2.4 million tons of raw minerals and 240,000 cubic meters of decorative stones. The report also showed that investors in raw minerals had a revenue of SR13 billion with a profit of SR4.1 billion out of a total investment of SR32 billion.
The agency has reserved 175 locations for mineral mining stretching over an area of 12,000 square kilometers in the Kingdom.
Naimi said in the report that his ministry has been following the new mineral investment regulations and the executive bylaws implemented at the end of 2004. These statutes have made the ministry responsible for implementing new regulations and related obligations, the minister said.
The ministry has strove its best to achieve its targets in the mining sector by strictly abiding to the new regulations particularly at this initial stage of the growing mining sector in the Kingdom. The minister noted with satisfaction that the mining sector in the Kingdom has been successful in attracting domestic and foreign investment.
The ministry undertook the task of granting mining licenses and monitoring the investments in the mining areas. The government also offered incentives to investors. The ministry issued or renewed 326 licenses for mining in 2005, according to the report. The total number of valid licenses for mining operations came to 1198 by the end of the year 2005.
The ministry also conducted more than 500 field inspections to monitor the mining activities and ensure that the license holders are strictly following the regulations.
The agency also conducted five seminars and a number of exhibitions to spread an awareness among the people to turn to domestically manufactured mineral products instead of using imported materials particularly in the construction industry.
The agency also have helped training the manpower in the field of mining and geology. It has deputed several employees to participate in international seminars and workshops to get more expertise in the field, apart from training several students of the College of Telecommunication and Electronics and the College of Engineering.
The ministry has also hosted a regional seminar on the horizons and investment opportunities of mining in the Arab world in collaboration with the Arab Organization for Industrial and Mining Development. The ministry has also prepared a draft of the unified regulations and statutes governing the mining for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the report said.