Ashraf AboArafe
Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – may God protect him – the fourth edition of the International Mining Conference ,(IMC) will be held from January 14 to 16, 2025, under the slogan “Achieving Impact” and organized by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh.
His Excellency the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Mr. Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, stressed that the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques – may God support him – for the conference in its fourth edition embodies the keenness of the wise leadership and its support to preserve the gains achieved by the conference during the past three editions and received direct follow-up from His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Prime Minister – may God protect him – who pays great attention to continuing to push the development movement in the mining sector and mineral industries worldwide.
He pointed out the prominent position achieved by the International Mining Conference, as it has become a major forum for all stakeholders in the mining sector, from governments to mining companies, financial institutions, service companies, research centers, and universities, indicating that the conference provides a vital platform to discuss the challenges facing the mining and minerals sector, and review the promising opportunities available at the regional and international levels, with a focus on ways to achieve maximum economic and social benefit from this vital sector.
His Excellency explained that the ministerial meeting, which will be held on the sidelines of the conference, with the participation of more than 100 countries, in addition to more than 40 international governmental and non-governmental organizations, aims to follow up on the implementation of the initiatives of previous ministerial meetings, which include developing a strategic framework for critical minerals in the Greater Mining Region extending from Africa to West and Central Asia, producing green minerals in the region using modern technologies and renewable energy, developing a sustainability framework that defines regional aspirations for mineral production based on transparency in supply chains, and building centers of excellence in the Greater Mining Region to enable investment and build human capacity.
The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources explained that the fourth edition of the conference, which will be held under the slogan “Achieving Impact”, will discuss important topics, including: reviewing the potential of new mining areas in the manufacturing sectors, attracting investments to the mining and processing sectors, in addition to discussing the contribution of the minerals sector to community development and securing clean energy as a source of advanced technology.
It indicated that the conference will witness the ministerial meeting on the first day, corresponding to January 14, 2025, while the main sessions will be launched on the second and third days, in which a number of ministers concerned with the mining sector, leaders of mining investment worldwide, and heads of major mining companies from various countries will participate.
Among the participants were Tom Palmer, CEO of Newmont Mining, the world’s largest gold mining company; Jonathan Price, CEO of TEC, one of Canada’s leading mining companies; Dominic Barton, Chairman of Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining companies; Mark Cutifani, CEO of Vale, a Brazilian company for basic metals; Robert Friedland, Founder and Co-CEO of Ivanhoe Mines; Bob Wilt, CEO of Maaden; Jeremy Weir, Chairman and CEO of Trafigura; Duncan Wanblad, CEO of Anglo American; Rohit Dhawan, CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), and other prominent figures. It is noteworthy that the third edition of the conference, held in January 2024, witnessed the participation of more than 14,000 participants from investment leaders, heads of major mining companies, and technical experts and specialists in this field from 133 countries, in addition to 100 sponsors and exhibitors, while 250 speakers from Their Excellencies the Ministers, Ambassadors, and heads of delegations of the countries participating in the conference participated in the conference sessions, which amounted to 70 sessions.
The previous edition also witnessed the announcement of new estimates of the Kingdom’s untapped mineral potential, which increased from 5 trillion riyals to 9.3 trillion riyals, an increase of 90%, in addition to the signing of 75 agreements and memoranda of understanding with a total value exceeding 75 billion riyals in the field of mining and mining industries between a number of government agencies, companies, and local and international institutions participating in the conference. These agreements and memoranda of understanding included the fields of mining exploration, financing, technology, application of sustainability standards, and investment in supply chains.
