Saudi Arabia Unveils $100 Billion Mining Investment To Boost Critical Mineral Production

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

January 16, 2025

At the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia unveiled an ambitious $100 billion investment aimed at transforming the global mining industry. The kingdom is positioning itself as a key player in the supply of critical minerals essential for energy transition technologies, including lithium, copper, gold, and rare earth elements. This strategic push is part of Saudi Arabia’s broader plan to diversify its economy and reduce dependence on oil.

Khalid al-Mudaifer, Deputy Minister of Mining Affairs, revealed that $20 billion of the planned investment is already advancing through its final engineering phase or is under construction. While details on the full scope of the project remain limited, the focus is on boosting exploration for key minerals such as lithium, copper, zinc, and nickel.

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Earlier in 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources updated its estimate of the value of untapped mineral resources, increasing the figure from $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion. This upward revision is largely driven by recent discoveries of these critical resources. In conjunction with this, the Saudi government launched a $182 million incentive program to further encourage mineral exploration and development.

Strategic Partnerships And New Discoveries

Saudi oil giant Aramco has partnered with state-owned mining company Ma’aden to jointly explore and extract minerals essential for the energy transition. Aramco’s collaboration extends to lithium exploration, with the company identifying promising lithium concentrations in its operating regions.

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman highlighted that Aramco’s involvement in mining, particularly lithium extraction, marks a departure from previous assumptions about the company’s focus. “Aramco can be a diversified company, and its mandate has no limits,” said bin Salman, underscoring the kingdom’s forward-thinking approach.

A key player in this strategy is Manara, a joint venture between Ma’aden and the Public Investment Fund (PIF), designed to invest in mining assets globally and strengthen sustainable supply chains. The venture aims to diversify Saudi Arabia’s mining operations and ensure access to the resources necessary for a successful energy transition.

Ambitious Timeline And Market Impact

The kingdom anticipates lithium production could commence as soon as 2027, with collaborations expected to accelerate the process. Lithium, a crucial component for electric vehicle batteries, is in high demand, and Saudi Arabia aims to become a central hub for processing critical minerals, competing with China, which currently dominates two-thirds of the lithium processing market.

In a breakthrough, Saudi Arabia recently confirmed the successful extraction of lithium from brine samples in Aramco’s oil fields. A joint venture with Ma’aden and local lithium extraction startup, Lithium Infinity, is now working on launching a commercial pilot program for direct extraction.

This bold move signals Saudi Arabia’s determination to play a pivotal role in the future of global mining, tapping into resources that will fuel both its economy and the world’s transition to cleaner energy technologies.

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Cyprus Permit Delays Can Add €61,000 To The Cost Of A New Home

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

August 25, 2026

Housing affordability in Cyprus is being affected not only by property prices, construction costs and interest rates, but also by delays in securing planning and building permits. For developers, years of waiting can add millions of euros to project costs and tens of thousands of euros to the price of an individual home.

Property Prices And Rents Continue To Rise

House prices in Cyprus rose 3.4% year on year in the first quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat, leaving prices about 50% above their 2015 level. Rents have also continued to increase, with the Cyprus Statistical Service reporting annual growth accelerating from 2.5% in January to 4.5% in April.

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Strong demand and limited supply are adding pressure to both markets. Delays earlier in the development cycle can further restrict the number of homes reaching the market.

Four-Year Delay Adds €6.3 Million To Project Costs

A recent analysis by Yiannis Misirlis, chairman of the Cyprus Land and Building Developers Association, illustrates the financial impact. The example involves a 125-apartment project with €7 million allocated to land and an estimated €25 million for construction, bringing the initial cost to €32 million.

If permits are secured within six months, the average sale price would be about €307,000 per apartment. A four-year permitting delay, however, would add about €1.7 million in financing costs tied to the land, €800,000 in additional overheads and €3.8 million from construction cost inflation.

Combined, those costs would add about €6.3 million to the project without increasing the developer’s profit. The average apartment price would rise to about €368,000, adding roughly €61,000 to each unit.

Delays Also Affect Rental Supply

Higher development costs can affect renters as well as buyers. When projects are delayed, fewer homes enter the market over a given period, limiting supply while demand continues to grow.

Build-to-rent projects face the same pressures from land costs, financing, overheads and construction inflation. Developers may ultimately pass some of those additional costs through to rents.

Government Moves To Increase Housing Supply

Reducing permitting times would not require weaker planning controls or construction standards. More predictable approval timelines would instead allow developers and investors to plan projects with greater certainty and reduce the costs associated with prolonged delays.

The Ministry of Interior has introduced planning incentives and additional building coefficients that are expected to support the construction of more than 2,500 homes over the next two years. The measures are intended to increase housing supply in a market where demand remains strong.

Permitting Delays Have A Direct Financial Cost

For developers, longer approval periods increase financing and overhead costs while exposing projects to higher construction prices. Those costs can ultimately affect sale prices, rents and the number of homes that reach the market.

Cyprus’ housing affordability challenge therefore extends beyond land and construction costs. The time required to move a project from planning to construction can also determine how much buyers and renters eventually pay.

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