Low-cost energy, state capital and large planned smelting and refining investments could make the kingdom a major midstream competitor and supplier between Asia, Africa and Europe.
~€2.23tn Estimated mineral wealth | ~€24bn Target new investment by 2030 | ~€57bn Target mining GDP contribution
RIYADH, Nov. 4 – Saudi Arabia is accelerating plans to become a global hub for critical-mineral processing, using low-cost energy, state-backed capital and its location between Europe, Asia and Africa to attract smelters, refineries, battery-material projects and electric-vehicle manufacturing.
The strategy matters to Europe because it could create a large midstream metals platform geographically closer than East Asia while also intensifying competition for the same copper, lithium, nickel and rare-earth feedstock that European manufacturers are trying to secure.
S&P Global said Saudi Arabia now estimates its mineral resources at about €2.23 trillion. Under Vision 2030, the kingdom aims to lift mining’s contribution to gross domestic product to roughly €57 billion, create 200,000 jobs and attract around €24 billion of new investment by the end of the decade.
Exploration spending has already risen sharply. S&P said minesite exploration budgets reached about €130 million in 2025, almost seven times the 2022 level. Gold accounted for 72% of that budget and copper 23%, showing that the kingdom’s near-term resource push remains anchored in conventional metals even as it expands into battery and rare-earth chains.
The more consequential European angle is downstream. Vedanta Copper International is planning a copper smelter and refinery valued at roughly €1.78 billion. Zijin Mining has committed up to around €1.42 billion for zinc smelting, lithium extraction and copper refining, while Australia’s Hastings Technology Metals is working with the Ministry of Investment on a multiphase rare-earth processing project valued at up to about €1.69 billion.
Saudi Aramco and Maaden have also announced a roughly €1.78 billion joint venture to pursue lithium extraction from brines and direct-lithium-extraction technology, with commercial production previously targeted from 2027 if technical and economic conditions are met.
This model is different from a conventional mining expansion. Saudi Arabia is trying to secure feedstock, process it domestically and anchor demand through large industrial projects, battery materials and vehicle manufacturing. That creates the possibility of a vertically linked metals platform supported by sovereign capital, ports, industrial zones and energy infrastructure.
Europe has already opened a policy channel. An EU-Saudi business and investment dialogue on critical raw materials was held in Riyadh in January 2026, reflecting interest in closer cooperation across raw-material value chains. The logic is straightforward: Europe needs diversified processing capacity, while Saudi Arabia wants technology, investment, customers and international market integration.
The model also carries risk. Water scarcity, underexplored geology, workforce requirements, regional shipping disruptions and governance expectations can slow projects or raise costs. Large announced investments must still progress through permitting, construction and commissioning before they materially change supply.
Saudi Arabia nevertheless has the ingredients to become a major midstream node. For Europe, that creates both an opportunity and a competitive challenge: the kingdom could become a nearby supplier of refined materials, but it could also use its balance sheet and energy advantage to pull processing investment and raw-material flows away from European projects.
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