By: Mining.com

The Australian mining sector is wasting little time positioning themselves in Saudi Arabia’s emerging mining sector, as Saudi Arabia rolls out a belt-scale exploration model that mirrors the geological and regulatory conditions. 

The Kingdom is charting a new era of investor-centric mining and a minerals sector driven by a series of strategic initiatives under Saudi Vision 2030 and led by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources under the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program. 

In 2020, the Saudi Arabian Ministry revamped its mining investment law, which was developed following consultations and collaborations with local and international organisations, alongside relevant government stakeholders. 

The reforms introduced under this framework prioritise tenure security, efficiency, transparency, a fast permitting process, a business-friendly environment, and sustainability. It also provides clear guidelines on licencing, environmental considerations, competitiveness incentives, and access to comprehensive geological data.

For Australian companies facing tightening land access, rising costs, and mature terrains at home, Saudi Arabia is offering first-mover advantages in under-explored belts considered highly prospective. 

With key infrastructure already in place, Saudi Arabia is compressing the exploration-to-development timeline. For Australian miners, this is not a speculative frontier, but a scalable, geology-driven opportunity backed by policy certainty. 

A key platform in this journey has been the Future Minerals Forum (FMF), a global gathering for shaping the future of minerals, which has brought together over 89 governments, prominent industry executives, and 50 multilateral organisations, alongside stakeholders from the entire minerals value chain. 

As previously reported, FMF’s 2026 theme ‘Dawn of a Global’ suggests a shift in how the minerals sector positions itself globally. The theme represents two meanings for FMF – a commitment by countries to collaborate and a development-driven agenda.

Countries are collaborating on mineral development and recognise that cross-border cooperation can meet global demand, whereas the other meaning represents minerals are positions as engines for jobs, industrialisation, and long-term economic transformation in supplier countries. 

FMF is a government-led mineral platform which brings together industry leaders, experts, governments, academia, and stakeholders to drive mineral resilience and prompt responsible supply.