Saudi Arabia to invest more than US$10 bn into the mining sector by 2020

Interview with Ibrahim M Alsenaidi, CEO of AMMCO

First of all we will talk about the mining sector in general in Saudi Arabia. They call mining sector the third pillar of the national strategy. It is one of the most important sectors for the future of the kingdom. The kingdom has an unexplored deposit of gold, copper, zinc and many other natural resources that are not exploited yet. What is the outlook for the mining sector in your opinion and is it going to significantly contribute to the GDP in the future?

I believe our government will support the mining sector as the third pillar of the Saudi economy, and in the near future, I am sure that new investors will come to invest in the mining sector especially for precious, base metals and also in the industrial minerals.

In 2015, the government announced that they will invest almost 10 billion dollars into the mining sector by 2020.

Yes, and I am sure it will invest more in the future.

Do you see that happening on the ground? Is there more and more activity in the sector?

Last couple of months witnessed some activity in the mining sector. I believe we will see progress  in mining services in 2016.

One of the most important developments this year was the slowdown in China. Prices of minerals like ore, copper, etc. went down a little bit. Do you think that can affect the progress in Saudi Arabia?

I think it will affect the progress in Saudi Arabia, but not all the way.

One of the main challenges for the mining industry and also the transformation industries is that Saudi Arabia doesn’t just want to mine the minerals and sell them in the market, but they want to transform them and build transformation industries on that. Do you see a consistent strategy towards the achievement of this goal?

Many businessmen are working in the transformational industries. There are big upcoming projects in 2017 and 2018.

Many businessmen are working in the transformational industries. There are big upcoming projects in 2017 and 2018.

Specifically, what mineral has a greater potential? Is it gold or zinc?

I think gold comes first as a precious metal and then zinc and copper.  Iron Ore as a base metal, and phosphate are also important. I believe phosphate will bring more income for the government.

Are most of these minerals found in the western province only?

No, they exist in different areas, and not particularly in the western province. They are actually everywhere in the kingdom.

Let’s talk now about the company itself. You want it to be positioned as the leading mining service company in the Middle East. Correct?

Our company was established in 2011 as an exploration and mining service provider. Our mission is to provide a good solution for our plants through mining, with a potential in different areas.

Would you briefly talk about the oil services that you provide? Those are for example mineral exploration. Can you tell us how and what kind of services are you providing and what is your competitive advantage?

Our main service is mineral exploration. We execute this kind of service to all kinds of mineral deposits such as gold, iron ore, limestone etc. We start from the disk study, details exploration program, chemical analysis, physical test and the last step is the report that should comply with the international standards.  Also, some of our clients may ask for a specific service such as drilling. We have three techniques for drilling. The conventional, RC, and diamond drilling. We also do land survey and mining service.

Anything else you want to talk about or to highlight concerning the project?

There are sixteen cement factories in the Kingdom. We worked for ten of them and helped them fix all the problems in the quarries. We also helped some of them find another quarry for the limestone. We do all the programs, from the disk study to the report, and we help them obtain a new license for the limestone.