‘Future Minerals’ In Riyadh Draws 14,000
Middle East Kingdom Swaying West, And China, To Explore & Process Metals
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as it calls itself, is in a third year of awarding metals exploration licenses to foreign entities.
The Future Minerals Forum 2024 this week is said to have drawn 14,000 attendees. Only PDAC in Toronto each March can surpass that figure.
Partnerships worth 75 billion riyals ($20 billion) were in the works at the show, Reuters and others report.
We are fortunate to have London banker Simon Catt of Arlington Group (AGAM.co.uk) giving us his takeaway. He is an active resources investor, a friend (London, Italy and western Australia) and a The Calandra Report subscriber.
Here is Simon’s report, interspersed with several metrics, developments or company updates, all in parentheses. (Outside sources are linked; on-site images are by Simon.)
If Saudi Arabia were a company, it would be Microsoft or Apple, well managed, fully priced and progressive.
My first visit to Saudi Arabia, and I was surprised. A steady diet of western media and having read “Blood Oil,” I expected something more like the empty soul of Dubai with its subjects cowering to the whim of the Crown Prince.
The only folks that seemed underwhelmed about Saudi Arabia at the Future Minerals Forum 2024 were junior explorers and developers searching for a mirage of Petro Dollars for offshore projects.
When Saudi’s Vision 2030 says it wants mining to be the third pillar of the Saudi economy, it is talking about building mineral supply chains for its future industry.
The welcome mat is out for Western mining and processing expertise to be internalised and implemented on the Arabian Shield (mineral deposits: copper, gold, bauxite). [Saudi Arabia says it plans to award 30 or moire mining exploration licences to international investors this year.]
The Saudi government’s Vision 2030 is its version of America’s Inflation Reduction Act, with similar aims: using plentiful local capital and low cost energy to onshore critical minerals and make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a logistics and processing hub to support broader future industrial goals.
Still, Canadian and Australian explorers active in Saudi Arabia in the past 2-3 years since the door swung open report lengthy delays for permitting and licenses and expensive local service providers.
How should foreign miners and service providers see Saudi Arabia? As potential smelters and refiners of offshore minerals shipped to Saudi for processing.
One Saudi fund explained it was looking for committed offshore partners that were ready and able to execute, were an expert in their field and that really needed Saudi presence and resources.
Saudi is changing fast. The dozen or so MOU’s we witnessed signed from mineral explorers, producers or developers like Platinum Group Metals, Perseus Mining, Glencore and, interestingly, Huawei Telecom from China, will need to mature. [Ivanhoe Electric IE was one of the first to report Saudi partnership results in the kingdom — see report please. Its partner, Saudi Arabian Mining Co. Ma’aden, hearkens back to 1997 or so.]
Energy and capital are as plentiful in Saudi as anywhere else in the world, but it’s mostly being recycled domestically.
Saudi Arabia is much more than an oil well.
If I had to choose between the various OECD countries I know first hand and Saudi Arabia in a portfolio then Saudi would be my top pick on a medium and long term view.
Thank you, Simon. A worthy report.
[TCRs, I own shares of Ivanhoe Electric IE; Platinum Group Metals PLG PTM; and one of the first to express interest in the Arabian Shield, Robert Friedland and his Africa miner Ivanhoe Mines IVN IVPAF. Feel free to send queries about uranium’s surge this week. Ditto: gold’s gain. Copper’s looming rebound. And-or DHT Maritime‘s sharp rise Friday — Red Sea linked,]
TCRs, another Gold ($2,052) Friday.
And uranium ($104 spot)*;
and oil. All are receiving
a boost from lighter inflation
indications. Also, a U.S.-led attack
on Yemen rebels. Plus, a Kazataprom
reduction in uranium output. — Thom Calandra
* Please see earlier uranium The Calandra Report. Thank you CanAlaska Uranium's CVV Cory Belyk, Laramide Resources' LAM Marc Henderson, GoviEx Uranium's GXU Daniel Major, enCore Energy EU & Nuclear Fuels' NF Bill Sheriff and Skyharbour Resources' SYH Jordan Trimble for timely updates of contract and spot uranium prices and of current nuclear, government, production and electric utility developments driving now-triple-digit prices. I own all but Skyharbour.
Thom Calandra is a writer and an investor. Research and material are meant as editorial opinion. He is not a professional investment adviser. Please do not consider his reporting as a recommendation to buy or sell securities.