【Ferro-alloys.com】: Saudi Arabia has announced new rare earth element discoveries valued atapproximately 37 billion riyals following recent exploration activities.Two advanced-stage sites were found to contain 644 million tons of resources, alongside severaladditional areas with hundreds of millions of tons in potential reserves.

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources,Bandar Al-Khuraif, revealed that recentexploration activities have identified rare earth element discoveries worth around 37 billion riyals.He notedthat this progress reflects the sector's rapid expansion and the intensive geological survey efforts underwayacross the Kingdom.

Al-Khuraif added that comprehensive geological studies have increased Saudi Arabia's total estimatedmineral wealth by 60% since 2018, reaching 4.9 trillion riyals in 2024.Detailed assessments confirmed thattwo advanced exploratory sites contain 644 million tons of resources with an average TREO grade of 0.30%.

In addition to these findings, the Saudi Geological Survey identified several promising new targetscontaining 364 to 714 million tons of resources, with TREO grades ranging between 0.05% and 1.66%.Thenewly identified sites are noted for their high concentrations of heavy rare earth elements, underscoringtheir strategic importance for advanced technologies, clean energy systems, robotics, and defenseindustries.

The minister emphasized that these discoveries reinforce Saudi Arabia's goal of becoming a global centerfor critical minerals. He also highlighted the Kingdom's recent strategic framework agreement with theUnited States, aimed at securing supply chains for uranium, rare earth elements,permanent magnets, andother critical minerals.

Furthermore, Maaden announced the signing of a binding term sheet with MP Materials and Mountain JVLLC to establish a facility for refining and separating rare earth elements within the Kingdom.The projectrepresents one of the first practical steps under the Saudi-U.S. cooperation framework and is expected tostrengthen Saudi Arabia's position in the global mining sector.

• [Editor:Alakay]