Gold production in Riyadh and Saudi Arabia rose to 12,353 kg last year

Gold production in Saudi

Gold production in Riyadh and Saudi Arabia rose to 12,353 kg last year. This is a five per cent increase. Gold production grew by 143% in just four years. The Vision 2030 project places great emphasis on the mining sector. Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince and architect of the Vision 2030 Plan for Economic Diversification, described the mining sector as unused oil.

Production was 5,089 kg in 2015, 6,946 kg in 2016, 10,333 kg in 2017 and 11,765 kg in 2018. Growth was up 6.3% in 2015, 36.5% in 2016, 48.8% in 2017 and 13.8% in 2018.

The rise in gold output has come after the announcement of the Vision 2030 Plan for Economic Diversification in 2016. The previous year, gold production was 5,089 kg. After the announcement of the Vision 2030 plan, it increased by 143 percent. Gold production has shown steady growth over the past four years. Annual gold production recorded an increase of 7264 kg.

Last year, Saudi Arabia produced 5,588 kg of silver, 63,357 tons of copper and 18,900 tons of zinc. Silver production also increased by five per cent. There was an increase of 266 kg. In 2018, 5,322 kg of silver was produced. Since the announcement of Vision 2030, silver production has increased by 24%. In 2015, Saudi Arabia’s silver output was 4,500 kg.

Copper production increased by more than 3,000 tons. Copper production in 2018 was 60,340 tonnes. Copper production has increased by 37 percent in four years. In 2015, copper production stood at 46,250 tonnes. Zinc production increased by five per cent. Zinc production increased by 900 tonnes last year. Zinc production in 2018 was 18,000 tonnes.

The crown prince has previously revealed that Saudi Arabia has $ 1.3 trillion ($ 4.9 trillion) of mineral resources, including $ 240 billion (900 billion riyals) of gold. Saudi Arabia accounts for about a sixth of the world's total uranium reserves. In Saudi, only 3% of the mineral reserves have been utilized so far.

Foreign and local investors may not be willing to invest heavily in the mining sector. Prince Mohammed bin Salman also revealed that a portion of the proceeds from the Saudi Aramco share sale will be used to invest in the mining sector through a public investment fund under the Ministry of Finance.