Saudi Arabia has large uranium reserves and will use them for commercial purposes, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said at the World Mining Conference, which opened on Wednesday in Riyadh, local media reported.
“We are looking forward to the development of our nuclear program. We have huge reserves of uranium, and we must develop and use them for commercial purposes,” the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted the minister as saying.
According to him, for this purpose, Saudi Arabia intends to attract foreign investment through Saudi Arabia Mining. Al Saud assured that his country would create transparent mechanisms for developing the uranium industry, which would ensure effective interaction with foreign partners.
The Kingdom, within the framework of the “National Transformation Program” adopted in 2016, also plans to master the production of hydrogen and the extraction of shale oil, using technologies that do not harm the environment.
The minister believes that the Vision 2030 program, aimed at diversifying the economy of Saudi Arabia and increasing the share of renewable sources in energy production, should not reduce the energy security of the Kingdom.
The Saudi Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar al-Huraif assured the conference that the mining sector would become “the third pillar of the national industry” of Saudi Arabia.
By 2030, the country plans to increase the share of this industry in GDP from 17 billion to 64 billion dollars, and the area on which geological exploration will be carried out will be 600 thousand square meters.
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