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Saudi Arabia has sharply boosted mining exploration and surveying spending in its mineral-rich western flank, an official has said.
The Gulf Kingdom, which is locked in a drive to diversify its oil-reliant economy, has nearly quadrupled spending on exploration and geological surveys to overshoot the target set in its Vision 2030.
In 2018, the world’s largest oil exporter spent an average 80 Saudi riyals ($21) per one kilometre on surveying in the Arabian Shield in Western Arabian Peninsula, said Abdullah Al-Shamrani, CEO of the Saudi Geological Survey.
Sending has now soared to SAR487 ($130) per km, which is far above the SAR200 ($53) targeted in the Vision 2030 economic transformation scheme.
“Over the past seven years, the Kingdom has increased spending on mining exploration and surveying by nearly 600 percent,” Al-Shamrani told the Saudi daily Al-Iqtisadiah.
(Writing by N Saeed; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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