Minister of Investment: The Kingdom targets mining investments of 92 billion riyals by 2030
confirm Minister of Investment Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih said that the national investment strategy aims to raise the volume of capital in the mining sector, which amounted to about 45 billion riyals in 2024, to reach about (92) billion riyals during the period from 2025 to 2030, in addition to doubling Direct foreign investments in the sector, and creating an investment environment that achieves average internal rates of return ranging between 20 and 30%.
This came during a dialogue session entitled "The moment of bold decisions…encouraging international investors towards the Mining"Within the proceedings of the International Mining Conference 2026, held in Riyadh, it discussed the challenges of international investment in the sector, and ways to keep pace with the rapid rise in global demand for vital minerals.
Participating in the session were His Excellency the Minister of Investment Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, the Executive Vice President of the Orion Resource Partners Group Michael Barton, the Chief Strategy Officer at Energy Pathways Carlyle Jeff Corey, the founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Integra Capital Dr. Jose Luis Manzano, and the Chief Strategy Officer of Energy Pathways Carlyle. Dominic Raab, president and CEO of Invanho Electric, in Appian Advisory, and Taylor Melvin, president and CEO of Invanho Electric. A comprehensive approach to address the sector’s challenges, by increasing spending on exploration five-fold during the period from 2020 to 2024, and reducing project timelines to reach from agreement to production within 8 to 10 years, supported by an integrated infrastructure that includes roads, railways, ports and logistics services, in addition to globally competitive value chains in aluminum and phosphate.
For their part, the speakers in the session pointed to international efforts aimed at strengthening global supply chains for the mining sector, and achieving mineral security. As an essential element to support the energy transition and build a low-carbon economy.
Participants addressed the challenges associated with capital flows in the mining sector, stressing that the long periods of project development, the accumulation of risks in the early stages, and the uncertainty associated with licensing and financing procedures, still limit the pace of investments compared to the size of the expected demand.
Increases in demand
They indicated during the session that global demand expectations by the year (2030 AD) indicate significant increases in demand for lithium and the elements. Rare earth, and the high demand for copper, driven by the expansion of electricity, power networks, renewable energy, and data centers, stressing that this transformation requires huge investments by the year (2035 AD), including mining activities, processing, and enabling infrastructure.
They also discussed the sources of funding for the mining sector globally, explaining that the early stages of geoscience and surveying are a public good funded by governments, while exploration depends on public stock markets, and mine development on the budgets of operating companies, with the decline of the traditional role of specialized mining funds, stressing that Exploration in its early stages is considered the most prominent constraint on the expansion of the sector.
The participants reviewed the Kingdom’s experience in making geological data available as a public good, following the completion of the Arabian Shield Survey and making its data available through advanced digital platforms, in addition to the mechanisms of mining funds, and recycling revenues to support survey and infrastructure work, capacity building and talent development.
The participants discussed the impact of regulatory stability and legislative reforms in the mining sector in the Kingdom, and the noticeable improvement in the investment attractiveness index issued by the Fraser Institute, where the Kingdom advanced from rank 104 approximately to rank 23 globally, in addition to the role of local financial markets in enabling small and medium-sized mining companies to access financing.
The session concluded by emphasizing the importance of adopting a portfolio approach in mobilizing capital, by diversifying investments across multiple exploration and production projects in different geographical regions, and enhancing co-financing initiatives and international partnerships, in addition to the role of environmental, social and institutional governance in reducing financing costs, in a way that supports achieving sustainable growth for the mining sector in the Kingdom and the world.
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