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Saudi Arabia has awarded more than 2,200 permits for minerals exploration and production since it introduced a landmark law to attract capital to its $1.33 trillion metals industry, according to official data.
The 2,272 permits granted over the past 3 years comprise 635 contracts for metal exploration, 178 for production and 43 for mine surveying, showed the figures by the Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry.
The December bulletin reported that the world’s largest oil exporter now has 10,518 factories and mines with a combined value of 1.428 trillion Saudi riyals ($380 billion).
In 2022, industrial permits issued by the Ministry stood at 964 with a total value of nearly SAR 32 billion ($8.5 billion), the report showed.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
