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Saudi Arabia has awarded 2,230 permits for stone and metal mining as part of its drive to expand the non-oil industrial base, according to official data.
A report released on Sunday by the Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry showed the world’s largest oil exporter awarded 178 permits for the exploitation of minerals.
Most of those permits were issued after the Kingdom began enforcing a new law to attract local and foreign capital into its massive metal industry, which is official estimated at nearly 5 trillion Saudi riyals ($1.33 trillion).
The report showed Riyadh also issued 42 new permits for exploration of metals, mainly gold, zinc, copper, silver and other metals.
The other permits covered mines for the production stone and other substances used in the manufacture of building materials, according to the report.
It did not mention their value but said investment in industrial permits in the largest Arab economy totalled 1.4 trillion riyals ($373 billion) at the end of January.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
