RIYADH, Oct 18 (Arab News): Saudi Arabia is renowned for its "black gold" hydrocarbon resources, but it is Mosaed Al-Ohali's job to ensure that the rest of the Kingdom's mineral wealth is exploited to the full in the big economic transformation underway as part of Vision 2030.
After a three-decade career at the petrochemicals giant SABIC, Al-Ohali earlier this year became CEO of Ma'aden, the Saudi mining company that has been given a central role in the National Industrial Development and Logistics Programme (NIDLP), a key part of the Kingdom's diversification strategy.
"Achieving the industrial and manufacturing perspective of Vision 2030 will be heavily dependent on the availability of the minerals needed to produce metals required in manufacturing," he told Arab News.
"As the national mining champion, we play a central role in the economic diversification of the nation. We are also applying advanced minerals exploration techniques and technologies to extract minerals that will further develop Saudi Arabian industries."
Oil has been the engine behind the country's modern economic development, but there are many other precious materials beneath its rugged terrain. The Kingdom is the biggest producer of gold ore in the Middle East, and gold has been mined here for thousands of years.
It is also rich in the minerals that power the global economy -aluminum via bauxite, copper, phosphates and other base metals, as well as the rare earth metals that are in increasing demand by high-tech industries.
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