A delegation from several Saudi government sectors participated in the Mining Beyond Copper conference, held in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, in the presence of President of the Republic of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema.
The Zambian president hosted the Saudi delegation, led by Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Mineral Resources Management Abdulrahman Al-Belushi at the presidential palace. The meeting was also attended by Saudi Ambassador to Zambia, Ali Al-Qahtani.
President Hichilema expressed his gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for supporting Zambia through the implementation of various development projects and other initiatives.
Deputy Minister Al-Belushi praised the significant development witnessed in Zambia’s mining sector and the success of Zambia’s first Mining Insaka Conference. He also commended Zambia’s active participation in the ministerial meeting held on the sidelines of the International Mining Conference in Riyadh.
He emphasized that Saudi Arabia is making ambiti
ous strides towards developing its mining sector to become the third pillar of the Saudi industry, following oil and petrochemicals, and as a significant source of income diversification for the national economy in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
Al-Belushi further highlighted that Saudi Arabia, through the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden), is one of the largest producers of phosphate-based agricultural fertilizers in the world.
On the sidelines of the conference, Al-Belushi and his delegation held several meetings with Zambian government officials and major global companies. The Saudi delegation also visited the Trident Mine for copper and nickel, along with the processing and refining centers for copper and nickel ore. They closely examined the heavy equipment and technologies utilized at the mine, one of the largest in Zambia.
Additionally, the delegation attended a session on the automation of mining sector licenses in Zambia.
Source: Saudi Press Agency