Minerals indispensable to achieve energy transition to renewable sources: Al-Mudaifer

Khalid Al-Mudaifer, Vice Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Mining Affairs

Minerals are indispensable to achieve energy transition to renewable sources, Saudi Press Agency reported, citing Khalid Al-Mudaifer, Vice Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Mining Affairs.

He told the Mines and Money Conference that the carbon neutrality cannot be achieved without minerals, and this requires expanding discoveries and increasing production.

With the acceleration of clean energy transition plans, supply chains for minerals and metals should be more flexible, especially amid the geopolitical tensions, which led to a 350% surge in the price of some minerals, Al-Mudaifer said.

He added that there is an urgent need for more than 3 billion tons of minerals and metals to generate wind, solar and geothermal energy, as well as store the energy needed to achieve an increase of "less than two Celsius degrees" in the future, according to World Bank estimates.

The official highlighted the progress made by the Kingdom in the mining industry, as its great potential is largely concentrated in precious and basic minerals, including gold, zinc, copper and silver, in addition to some specialized minerals such as niobium and tantalum.

He referred to the Kingdom's efforts in the field of hydrogen, which included establishing the largest green hydrogen plant in the world, in addition to announcing a $5 billion project to produce approximately 250,000 tons of green hydrogen by 2026.