Riyadh has initiated efforts to industrialise the Ras Al Zour area in the central east coast of Saudi Arabia, one of the country’s less-developed areas and where a government mining company plans to set up large industries.

The Saudi Arabia Mining Company (Ma’aden) and the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia) are preparing an investment package for the area.
The business plan for Ras Al Zour is part of the government’s initiatives to achieve a balanced development in all parts of the kingdom in coordination with relative ministries. 
The Sagia governor, Amr Al Dabbagh, and the CEO of Ma’aden, Abdullah Al Dabbagh, discussed Ras Al Zour at a workshop held recently at the headquarters of the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals in Riyadh. Senior officials from both sides were present.
The two sides have agreed to identify and promote investment opportunities in vertical industries dependent on Ma’aden’s by-products. Importance was given to marketing and communication of these opportunities to Saudi and foreign investors, and to provide facilities and support to expedite the mining company’s investment projects in Ras Al Zour.  Procedures will be prepared to facilitate investments in projects that will provide high revenues to the Saudi economy.  
Ma’aden and Sagia agreed to allocate a communications contact person to follow-up on the task forces responsible for implementation of the plans and to hold bi-annual meetings between both managements to review progress and deliverables.
The agreement with Ma’aden complements Sagia’s strategy to foster development of specific sectors known for their competitive advantage in the kingdom such as energy, petrochemicals, water and electricity and mining.
Ma’aden was established under a Royal decree in 1997 as a joint venture owned wholly by the government with a capital of $1.1 billion.
Ma’aden is undertaking the Az Zabirah aluminium poject to exploit the kingdom’s bauxite reserves and low-cost fuel. Az Zabirah is in the central part of northern Saudi Arabia. The project entails setting up a 620,000 tonnes per year (tpy) smelter and a 1.4 million tpy alumina refinery at Ras Al Zour in the central east coast. 
A planned railway line will be the key to the development of the Az Zabirah bauxite project. The railway will also serve the proposed phosphate mine at Al Jalamid. The phosphate will be transported to the east coast where a processing plant will be built to convert the phosphate into fertiliser.
Ma’aden currently operates mines at Mahd Al Dahab, 380 km northeast of Jeddah, for gold; Al Hajar, southwest of the kingdom, (gold and silver); Al Sukhaybarat, 550 km northwest of Riyadh, (gold and silver); Al Amar, central Saudi Arabia, (gold, copper and zinc) and Bulghah, 65 km southwest of the Sukhaybarat mine, (gold and silver).