Funding global mineral value chains requires supply, policy and investment

Funding global mineral value chains requires supply, policy and investment

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia/PRNewswire/ -- Speaking on the opening day of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh (from 9-11 January), His Excellency Khalid Al-Mudaifer, Vice-Minister for Mining Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia used a panel appearance to tell the world that funding global mineral value chains urgently requires three factors: supply, policy and investment.

With the world having embarked on an ambitious decarbonization journey toward net-zero, he said, there are some challenges to be faced in supplying the volumes of critical minerals required for cleaner energy technologies.

His Excellency said that the world had spent two hundred years building the current energy system but has to build a new one in twenty.

The hardest part, he said, is that global investments in mining, refining, and smelting will need to increase to approximately $3 trillion by 2030, while around 300,000 to 600,000 mining professionals will be required. Aside from these challenges, vast amounts of power will be required, as will smooth permitting processes, infrastructure, equipment and water supply.

Mining is not a revenue play for Saudi Arabia, he said. Instead, the Kingdom sees mining as a way to create jobs, diversify economy, and increase exports. All revenues from the