Saudi Gazette DAMMAM — Eastern Province Emir Prince Saud Bin Naif inaugurated the Arab International Aluminum Conference (ARABAL) at Dhahran Exhibition Center in Dammam Sunday in the presence of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi, CEO of Ma'aden Khaled Bin Saleh Al-Mudaifer, leading businessmen, top ranking officials and prospective investors. The three-day conference is organized and hosted by Ma'aden. In his inaugural remark, Prince Saud Bin Naif congratulated Ma'aden for making big stride in mining and aluminum sector he said Ma'aden symbolizes unprecedented growth of the industrial sector in the Kingdom and also the wise policies of the architects of the country to diversify from the oil sector. He welcomed the delegates of the conference and hoped that their deliberations will further enhance the aluminum sector and take Ma'aden on a global map in aluminum sector. The Emir said the nation was proud of Ma'aden Aluminum plant in Ras Al-Khair. "It translates the dream of the previous leaders like King Fahd, Prince Sultan, Prince Naif, King Abdullah and now King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz to turn Saudi Arabia into a diversified economy." Welcoming the Emir, Al-Naimi said the conference comes at a time when the aluminum industry has made great strides, advancing the process of development in producing countries and adding value to their economies. The conference also coincides with the national achievement of establishing an integrated aluminum industry from the mine down to the final product in rolling mills, in addition to the recycling stages, as part of the steps taken by the Kingdom to promote the future of the aluminum industry, not only its basic components, but also its manufacturing industries. The minister said the Kingdom has also issued and updated a mining law and made investments in surveying and exploration, which include geological, geochemical and geophysical mapping; mineral exploration; and excavation work in all the Kingdom's regions, and established the Saudi Geological Society. Al-Naimi said his ministry strives to attract foreign capital for investment in the mining sector, according to a vision for development based on making use of the Kingdom's mineral resources and reserves, which are the largest in the Middle East. Concessions in this regard are available over a wide area of the Kingdom. Besides being the country with the world's largest mineral endowment, the Kingdom has an added advantage, which is the availability of infrastructure, including the services needed by this industry such as roads and electricity, in addition to reforms to the mining laws. The result of this integrated set of laws and new vision accumulated professional the country saw the establishment of mining industrial cities, foremost among which is Ras Al-Khair City, the first mining city in the Kingdom and the third industrial city after the Jubail and Yanbu industrial cities, with investments estimated at SR130 billion Ras Al-Khair is connected to the phosphate mines in the north of the Kingdom and bauxite mines in the middle by a 1,500-kilometer long railway, and it is from this city that the Kingdom's first aluminum shipment was exported via the first port to be dedicated to mining products in the Kingdom. Ras Al-Khair is home to the world's largest integrated aluminum complex aimed at achieving integration from the mine to the end product. Welcoming the Emir, Petroleum Minister and delegates at ARABAL 2015, Al-Mudaifer said it was an honor for Ma'aden Mining Company to host a conference of such magnitude where international experts and investors will sit together and review the growth of aluminum sector in the Kingdom. He said Ma'aden since the launch of its IPO in 2008 has multiplied its area of activities I mining sector like gold, copper, phosphate and aluminum. Today it is considered as one of the largest mining companies in the world. During the past seven years the mining company has expanded and invested billions of riyals to become the third pillar of Saudi economy after oil and petrochemicals. Its revenue rose from SR240 million I 2007 to current SR11 billion. He said the target of Ma'aden was to build its aluminum facilities as the largest integrated aluminum industry in the world in five years' time. He said "we now have the first series of integrated aluminum industry in the Arab world at a total cost of SR40 billion, ensuring the sustainability of the supply of aluminum in domestic and international market." He invited the delegates to have a tour of its integrated aluminum facility at Ras Al-Khair. Ma'aden will showcase the company's operational facilities at Ras Al-Khair industrial city during the two-day meet. The tour will include a visit to the alumina refinery (the first in the GCC), aluminum smelter and rolling mill, the latter being the only facility of its kind in the region and among the most technically advanced in the world.
