Doing Business in Saudi Arabia - International Franchise Association

prepared based on the planned capacities of the refinery and smelter and reviewed in
comprehensive technical studies.
Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden), a 100 percent state owned entity, dominates the
mining sector. Ma’aden is in the process of creating individual companies for its gold, industrial
minerals, phosphates and aluminum interests. The Saudi minerals giant is also establishing an
infrastructure development company to build and operate the prestigious Ras Az-Zawr project.
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The Kingdom has the largest known deposits of mineral resources in the Middle East. The
main minerals are gold, phosphates and bauxite. Saudi Arabia is home to some of the largest
phosphate deposits in the world. Reserves stand at 3.1 billion tons, with 1.6 billion tons of
indicated phosphate resource and 1.5 billion tons of inferred resource.
By 2011, in addition to the Ras Az-Zawr development, there will be new bauxite production from
Al-Zubeira, phosphates from Al-Jalamid and the Ras Az-Zawr Aluminum Smelter.
Ma’aden recently has signed a US$240 million deal with a consortium to build three sulfuric acid
plants in Ras Az-Zawr. The plants will have a daily capacity of 13,500 tons. The project, which
will be ready within three years, is described as the largest in the world. The new sulfuric acid
plants are part of a US$ 2.6 billion di-ammonium phosphate complex.
Ma’aden on December 20, 2009 signed a US $10.8 billion Joint venture with Alcoa, the world
leader in Aluminum, for the development of fully integrated world-class aluminum industry in the
Kingdom. In it is initial phase, the joint venture will develop a fully integrated industrial complex
including a bauxite mine with an initial capacity of 4 million metric tons per year, an alumina
factory with an initial capacity of 1.8 million empty, an aluminum smelter with initial ho-mill
capacity of between 250,000, and 460,000 mtpy. The mil will focus initially on the production of
sheet, and tab stock for the manufacture of aluminum cans, and potentially other products to
serve the construction industry. The refinery, smelter and rolling mill will be established within
the industrial zone of Ras Az-Zawr on the east coast of the Kingdom (Ras Az-Zawr is 90 km
north of Jubail on the coast of the Arabian gulf).
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In the next five years, some $18 billion will be invested in mining projects in the Kingdom, much
of it by the Ma’aden. While an aluminum smelter and some fertilizer plants will add value,
perhaps the biggest value will come with the new freight rail network to carry minerals to the
coast for export.
The government recently approved the construction of a US$4 billion aluminum smelter plant, a
Ma’aden project with an annual capacity of 623,000 tons. The plant will be located in the Ras
Az-Zawr Industrial Zone in eastern Saudi Arabia. Ma’aden believes the Ras Az-Zawr mineral
industrial complex will attract more than US$18 billion in investment for the phosphate and
aluminum projects, a power plant and a port on the Gulf.
Ma’aden plans to develop five gold projects and a complete mining system at the Ras Az-Zawr
industrial area linked by railways with the company’s industrial utilities and a port for exporting
phosphate and aluminum.