Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar Al-Khuraif, revealed that recent exploration activities have identified rare earth element discoveries worth around 37 billion riyals. He noted that this progress reflects the sector’s rapid expansion and the intensive geological survey efforts underway across the Kingdom.
Al-Khuraif added that comprehensive geological studies have increased Saudi Arabia’s total estimated mineral wealth by 60% since 2018, reaching 4.9 trillion riyals in 2024. Detailed assessments confirmed that two advanced exploratory sites contain 644 million tons of resources with an average TREO grade of 0.30%.
In addition to these findings, the Saudi Geological Survey identified several promising new targets containing 364 to 714 million tons of resources, with TREO grades ranging between 0.05% and 1.66%. The newly identified sites are noted for their high concentrations of heavy rare earth elements, underscoring their strategic importance for advanced technologies, clean energy systems, robotics, and defense industries.
The minister emphasized that these discoveries reinforce Saudi Arabia’s goal of becoming a global center for critical minerals. He also highlighted the Kingdom’s recent strategic framework agreement with the United States, aimed at securing supply chains for uranium, rare earth elements, permanent magnets, and other critical minerals.
Furthermore, Maaden announced the signing of a binding term sheet with MP Materials and Mountain JV LLC to establish a facility for refining and separating rare earth elements within the Kingdom. The project represents one of the first practical steps under the Saudi-U.S. cooperation framework and is expected to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s position in the global mining sector.
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