Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden), the biggest mining company in the Arab world, expects to aggressively expand its exploration activity following the discovery of vast gold deposits in the Makkah region in December.
The discoveries, which are along a 100km strip in the south of Ma'aden's Mansourah-Massarah gold mine, could put the company “at the centre of the world’s next gold rush”, chief executive Bob Wilt said in a statement on Monday.
Ma’aden said it began commercial production at the Mansourah-Massarah mine in the first quarter and expects to reach the maximum production capacity during this year. It held nearly seven million ounces in gold resources at the end of 2023, with a production capacity of 250,000 ounces a year.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has been looking to diversify away from crude exports by developing sectors including tourism, hospitality and finance.
Mining is a key component of the kingdom’s drive to attract foreign direct investment as laid out in the Vision 2030 plan. It aims to more than triple the mining sector’s contribution to the nation’s economic output by the end of the decade.
Meanwhile, Ma'aden swung to a net profit of 890 million Saudi riyals ($237.30 million) in the fourth quarter of 2023, from a loss of 83 million riyals in the third quarter, the company said in a filing to the Tadawul stock exchange, where its shares are traded.
Revenue during the same period jumped 29 per cent to 8.04 billion riyals, supported by higher overall sales prices and volumes.
Ma’aden, one of the largest exporters of phosphate fertilisers globally, said fourth-quarter sales from its phosphate business stood at 4.72 billion riyals, up from 3.25 billion riyals in the third quarter.
The company’s aluminium sales grew 12 per cent quarter-over-quarter to 2.4 billion riyals in the final three months of 2023.
Ma’aden’s sales of base metals and minerals, which includes gold, rose to 897 million riyals in the fourth quarter from 812 million riyals in the third quarter.
For the full-year 2023, the company’s net profit dropped 83 per cent year-on-year to 1.58 billion riyals, while revenue fell 27 per cent to 29.27 billion riyals.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 exacerbated already tight global fertiliser supplies, boosting prices to all-time highs.
Ma’aden expects the global phosphate market to remain stable this year, with higher demand in key markets offsetting a return in supply.
Following a period of reduced manufacturing activity worldwide, the aluminium market is projected to become more stable in 2024 amid increasing demand for the metal in North America and Europe, coupled with a recovery of manufacturing activity in China, the company said.
Ma’aden warned that the prices of natural gas and diesel used in its operations will rise slightly from the first quarter, which will increase the company’s total annual cost of sales by about 3.2 per cent.
“We continue to monitor disruptions in the Red Sea and work with our customers to minimise impact,” the company said.
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Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The biog
Favourite film: Motorcycle Dairies, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Kagemusha
Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Holiday destination: Sri Lanka
First car: VW Golf
Proudest achievement: Building Robotics Labs at Khalifa University and King’s College London, Daughters
Driverless cars or drones: Driverless Cars
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
