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May 7, 2024 - Representing the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, the Chairman of the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Authority, Engineer Ziad Al-Saaida, today, Tuesday, sponsored the launch of the activities of the first workshop of its kind at the Arab level, entitled “The Reality and Prospects of Minerals Used in Clean Energy Technologies in Countries.” "And the second meeting of the Arab Committee for the Initiative for Minerals Used in Clean Energy Technologies, in the presence of more than 200 participants from more than 10 Arab countries. In his speech while sponsoring the event, Al-Saaida stressed the importance of the workshop, which comes within the royal directives to support and empower the mining sector in the Kingdom as it is one of the main pillars of the national industry, indicating that Jordan realizes that the mining sector can only be developed through participation in dialogue and making decisions. Influential in this field, searching for new and promising mining areas, dealing with challenges in financing operations, infrastructure and logistics services, and studying the supply and demand side of the most commonly used minerals. He added, "The mining sector has been included within the engine of high-value industries in accordance with the economic modernization vision for the years 2023-2033, in line with the large and accelerating demand for mineral resources. Jordan worked to implement exploratory programs, and succeeded in identifying huge quantities of ores for earth element compounds located on an area It exceeds 900 km2 in southern Jordan, in addition to significant quantities of lithium in the waters of the Dead Sea, huge reserves of silica sand in southern Jordan, and the elements zinc and lead, which are now in the process of memorandums of understanding with Arab and international companies working to complete economic feasibility studies according to compatible environmental and mining conditions and standards. Arab and international countries, which will achieve a state of environmental balance and mining extraction if the executive memorandums for these projects are initiated in the near term. For his part, the Director General of the Arab Industrial Development, Standardization and Mining Organization, Engineer Adel Al-Saqr, indicated that the Arab region has huge mineral potential involved in renewable energy industries, which requires integrated efforts to study the reality and prospects of these minerals and draw a road map to enhance their value chain, in order to contribute to making the region A sustainable mining center and a place on the global map in the production of energy transition metals, in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development, confront climate change, and reach carbon neutrality in 2050. He pointed to the organization’s completion of the “Arab Platform for Future Minerals” as the first informational and interactive platform of its kind, which was officially launched, including clean energy minerals, and announced the issuance of the platform in English and the provision of an interface for metal prices on a permanent and updated basis, hoping that the platform will be a qualitative addition to serving the Arab mining sector. . The workshop activities began with the main session entitled “The Reality and Prospects of the Mining and Energy Sector in the Kingdom,” with the participation of the Chairman of the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Authority, Ziad Al-Saaida, and the Director of Natural Resources Studies at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, geologist Hisham Al-Zyoud. The workshop discussed the mining strategy for the year 2033, which aims to raise the employment rate in the sector. Mining to reach 27.5 thousand workers, while raising the value of exports from this sector to 3.5 billion from 1 billion Jordanian dinars, through an action plan to be implemented in the short term 2025 and focuses on attracting capital and employing it to explore new minerals, and accelerating the process of developing potash projects, The medium term is 2028 and focuses on the gradual flow of capital to develop new projects and establish copper and gold exploitation projects to mature this industry, and the long term is 2033 which focuses on exploiting multiple ores and metals at varying stages, leading to Jordan enjoying a mature, diversified and growing mining sector by 2033. During the activities of the first session, which was entitled “Minerals used in clean energy technologies in Arab countries,” the head of the Strategic Minerals Exploration Project at the Saudi Geological Survey, Muhammad bin Abdul Qader Al-Juhani, said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contains a large diversity of metallic and non-metallic mineral deposits, indicating that Most of the metallic deposits are found in the Arabian Shield, in the western part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, while most of the non-metallic deposits are found in the sedimentary cover, in the eastern part of the Kingdom. He added that the Saudi Geological Survey is working to explore strategic minerals in the Kingdom through the Strategic Minerals Exploration Project, and the exploration includes lithium, graphite, titanium, copper, nickel, and cobalt minerals. For her part, the Director General of Mines at the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy in the Republic of Tunisia stated that her country has developed an industrial strategy and a strategy for the energy transition until the year 2035, in addition to pursuing a carbon neutrality strategy at zero level in the year 2050. She added that high concentrations of “zinc and magnesium” ore were discovered in the northern and northwestern regions of Tunisia, noting that the lead ore exploited in the country amounts to 2.3 million tons, and zinc ore 2 million tons, in addition to silica sand, which has high quality. In high concentrations, it is used in the manufacture of glass, plumbing molds, and rubber, in addition to the manufacture of solar cells. For his part, the head of the Mining Department of the Mineral Resources Department in the Ministry of Industry and Minerals in the State of Libya, Dr. Faisal Abu Sahmin, shed light on the mineral resources used in renewable energy technology available in the State of Libya, which are represented by the silica sand located in North Idri (southern Libya) and Wadi Al-Shati iron, Evidence of gold and radioactive elements in the eastern and western Ouwaynat region and the Tibesti Mountains region. Abu Sahmain presented several proposals, such as involving the local and foreign private sector to invest in research and exploration operations for extremely important metallic ores used in clean energy technologies, developing a financial policy that supports this trend, supporting research and development programs and training and qualification plans in the field of geological exploration and mining, and developing a plan to conduct studies. Detailed geological data on the presence of mineral ores and rare elements in southern Libya and effective programs to transfer geochemical and geophysical techniques for metal detection in partnership with Arab and foreign research centers. The Director of the Energy, Water and Environment Research Center at Tafila Technical University, Dr. Riyad Al-Duwairi, said that the energy system that relies on clean energy technologies differs significantly from the system that relies on traditional hydrocarbon resources, as vital minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements are essential components in many From fast-growing clean energy technologies, such as wind turbines and electricity grids to electric cars, demand is also increasing for metals used in clean energy technologies as the pace of transition to clean energy accelerates. During the second session, entitled “The Role of Regional Institutions in Supporting the Energy Transition,” the Secretary-General of the Arab Renewable Energy Authority, Dr. Muhammad Al-Ta’ani, expected that investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and transformation in the Arab region, by 2020-2050, would reach more than $400 billion, targeting more Of 70 gigawatts of renewable energy, noting that the smart sustainability of energy axes will take place on four axes, represented by smart energy, the smart grid, smart cities, and smart electronic vehicles. In turn, the industrial investment expert at the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, Dr. Qasim Shedid, confirmed that the GCC countries are seeking economic diversification, in an effort to reduce dependence on oil and gas revenues, which are characterized by price fluctuations and economic instability. Economic diversification also contributes to increasing government revenues and creating new jobs in non-profit sectors. Oil, enhancing innovation and technology by focusing on advanced manufacturing industries, and supporting environmental sustainability by investing in renewable energy and environmentally friendly industries. Shadeed added that in light of the GCC countries’ efforts to industrial diversify and increase the contribution of new industries compared to industries related to oil and gas, the GCC countries face many challenges to investing in energy transition minerals, the most important of which is the heavy reliance on cheap energy sources as a result of the availability of oil and gas, the large consumption of water resources, and what they lead to. The rapid increase in demand for minerals has led to intensified geopolitical competition for mineral resources, increased price volatility, high risk of supply chain disruption, delayed mapping of mineral resources due to lack of prior geological information, lack of long-term planning and resulting poor infrastructure development. The person responsible for managing mineral wealth at the Arab Industrial Development, Standardization and Mining Organization, Engineer Mustafa Daoud, reviewed clean energy ores and minerals in the Arab region, and the Arab platform for future minerals, which provides information about the minerals available in each Arab country and the volume of production therein, and the road map for energy transition minerals, which is still under development. Implementation. The third session, which was entitled “Arab Mining Investment Opportunities,” addressed several topics, during which the General Director of the Uranium Mining Company in Jordan, Dr. Muhammad Al-Shinnaq, shed light on Jordan and the presence of an estimated 260 thousand tons of uranium, adding that exploration reaches 80-150 parts per million. . The head of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Hashemite University, Dr. Khalil Khadrafi, touched on phosphorus rock and phosphate, explaining that phosphorus is one of the three macronutrients used in larger quantities of plants and there is no substitute for it, so it is necessary for food production, and is used as a main raw material in the production of phosphate fertilizers. It is an important source of productive and healthy crops, in addition to the feed industry, lithium batteries, and others. Khader noted the increasing future demand for phosphate resources, stressing that global consumption of phosphate fertilizers ranges between 42 and 49 million tons between 2010 and 2020. For her part, Dr. Reem Qashtawi from the Natural Resources Studies Directorate at the Ministry of Energy discussed the conditions for the attractive investment environment in Jordan, and the basic and additional incentives that apply to the mining sector and companies that meet operational standards, reviewing the steps of the investor’s journey in the sector, noting the opportunity for Jordan to benefit from the developments that it will witness. sector during the next decade, and the increasing global demand for vital raw materials in an effort to transform into a sustainable economy. Qashtawi spoke about Jordanian investment opportunities in phosphate ores, gold, uranium, rare earth elements, silica sand, basic elements, and copper, and their locations on Jordanian territory. For his part, the head of the mining department at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, Engineer Jaafar Al-Maaytah, considered that the Aqaba Special Economic Zone is considered an investment destination at the local and global levels thanks to development policies that created a competitive investment environment, as the region offers many golden opportunities for investors as it is a low-tax and customs-free zone. . He added that the authority has adopted a comprehensive organizational plan that covers development activities in the region at the level of the tourism, commercial, industrial and logistical sectors, in addition to other investment sectors, as the broad planning currently includes 5 regions: (Aqaba city, Aqaba port region, the southern coastal region, the southern heavy industries region, and the northern airport region).