The Saudi Mining Company Ma’aden today held a meeting with Bechtel-International to discuss various steps of developing a bauxite project and review the infrastructure of project’s facilities.
The meeting was co-chaired by Maaden’s Chairman Dr Abdullah bin Essa Al-Dabbagh and Bechtel’s Head of Mining Andy Greg.
The Al-Zabirah bauxite resource is located in a remote desert area of north-western Saudi Arabia, near the provincial city of Buraidah. The resource has been explored extensively since the 1970s by reputable international firms, and has been found to contain nearly 650 metric tons of bauxite, 100 metric tons of which have been classified as ‘inferred reserves’.
The Al-Zabirah bauxite mine is dependent on the construction of a railway to carry the bauxite to an alumina refinery, which will be located in the Eastern Province.
Ma'aden and the Saudi Government are also considering development of the Al-Jalamid and Um-Wu’ul phosphate reserves in the Kingdom’s north-western region. A bulk haulage railway will be constructed to transport both the bauxite and the phosphate rock, if the projects prove to be commercially viable.
The primary objective of Ma’aden is to develop the Al-Zabirah bauxite resource on a commercially viable and environmentally sustainable basis, to add the maximum possible value to net revenues and generate employment, to boost economic development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Source: SPA
