Trafigura and Modern Mining Holding Company to Establish an Integrated Multi-Metal Smelter Project Riyadh, 23 October 2018 - Today, Trafigura Pte Ltd signed an equal joint venture partnership with Modern Mining Holding Company, an affiliate of the Riyadh-based Modern Industrial Investment Holding Group to jointly work on developing an integrated copper, zinc, and lead smelter and refining complex in Ras Al-Khair Mineral City, Saudi Arabia.
The parties signed a binding agreement to develop, finance, and operate the multi-billion-dollar integrated smelter complex, and recently received a formal approval from the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources to establish the project in Ras Al-Khair. An initial scoping study has proven the project economical and will benefit from significant attractive attributes in the form of world-class infrastructure and logistics available at the proposed site.
The partners’ intention to develop a world-class smelter complex (“SmeltCo”) is seen as a pioneering project that will create significant value-added products that are able to compete globally, enhance the domestic metals and minerals conversion industry, and create job opportunities for Saudi citizens. Based on initial assessment the project is expected to generate about 3,000 direct jobs during construction and 1,200 permanent jobs in the operational phase. Abdulaziz Fahad Al Hamwah, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Modern Mining has highlighted that SmeltCo closes the gap in the Kingdom’s “midstream” mining value chain with the production of high-quality premium base metals. The project is aligned with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 which calls for developing and capturing maximum value from the mining sector.
Under the joint venture Trafigura will provide its significant knowledge and understanding of the metals and mining industry and its own in-house technical and operational expertise to support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
A photo of the signing published by the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources’ official account in Twitter, on 23rd of October 2018.
https://twitter.com/SaudiMEIM/status/1054701897372839937