National Minerals Program

The National Minerals Program is a national program concerned with the efficiency and sufficiency of current and future minerals supply chains in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources. It aims to optimize the value created by the mining sector and foster the continuity of regional and global mineral supply chains. The Council of Ministers approved the program on July 16, 2024.

The National Minerals Program supports enhancing the quality and sufficiency of mineral supply chains, ensuring supply continuity for local industries and major projects, developing the Kingdom's infrastructure, and achieving the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. The program supports the minerals sector's growth and builds upon the Kingdom's mineral resources.

The National Minerals Program unifies key roles among different entities. It seeks to build local minerals capacity and address existing gaps to ensure the continuity of minerals supply chains, provide industrial supplies, contribute to exploration, and ensure supply continuity for local industries and major projects.

Through its various programs, including the National Minerals Program, the Kingdom seeks to develop minerals value chains, ultimately making the mining sector the third pillar of the national industry. It also aims to benefit from the Kingdom's geographic location, being one of the major trade intersections, supported by a base of advanced, integrated, and diverse infrastructure to contribute to economic development and its future sustainability in the region and the world.

According to a report issued by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, in 2022, the mineral resources of the Kingdom are spread over more than 5,300 sites. Its value was estimated at around SAR5 trillion until 2016. With the expansion of mining activities in the Kingdom, the estimated value of mineral resources increased by 90 percent, reaching SAR9.375 trillion, as revealed by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources at the International Mining Conference held in Riyadh on January 10, 2024. Abundant minerals in the Kingdom include gold, copper, silver, phosphate, zinc, limestone, bauxite, feldspar, silica sand, and ornamental stones used for building facades such as granite, among others.

The Kingdom produces several minerals and mineral products that contribute to the development of metallic minerals value chains. These include aluminum, iron, zinc, copper, and gold, in addition to non-metallic mineral products, such as cement, phosphate fertilizers, ceramics, and glass. The Kingdom produces around 4.9 million t of bauxite annually. It is processed for the production of 1 million t of aluminum per year. Around 409,000 oz of gold are produced from mines located in the Arabian Shield region, which is rich in precious and base metals. The Kingdom also produces around 68,000 t of copper and zinc concentrates annually, and around 24.6 million t of phosphate ore per year. It is processed for the production of around 5.26 million t of phosphate fertilizers yearly. The Kingdom is among the top five producers of phosphate fertilizers.