Amman, Sept. 14 (Petra) — Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin
Salman said exploration and geological studies at the Jabal Sayid
project in the Madinah region had revealed estimated resources of
about 114 million tonnes of ore containing high concentrations of
rare minerals, particularly heavy rare earth elements, along with
promising concentrations of uranium.

According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Saudi energy minister,
speaking at his country’s address to the 70th General Conference of
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, said the
kingdom’s national atomic energy project was moving forward with a
program to explore uranium resources and assess opportunities for
their economic utilization.

He said the program was based on several interconnected tracks,
including the extraction of uranium associated with phosphoric acid
during phosphate fertilizer production processes in the north of the
country. He noted that Saudi Arabia is the world’s second-largest
exporter of phosphate fertilizers.

He added that pilot work conducted in cooperation with the French
nuclear group, Orano, had shown promising economic indicators for
extracting uranium from these processes. The cooperation culminated
in the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) during the
Crown Prince’s visit to France last August.

//Petra// AF