Sustainable development and the exploitation of industrial minerals: The phosphates project in Saudi Arabia

Mining is a vital sector in the economic development of many countries, including Saudi Arabia. At first glance, mineral-rich economies have an advantage over those less well endowed because minerals provide funds for rapid development and poverty reduction. Sustainable development requires recovery of resource revenue generated by mining, and investment of this revenue in other forms of wealth, capable of generating income and employment once minerals are depleted. The minerals sector in Saudi Arabia has great potential to play a leading role in diversifying the Saudi economy and has been regarded as a strategic factor for the inducement of future economic and industrial development in the country due to the Kingdom's enormous and relatively untapped mineral resource base, including precious and base minerals as well as industrial minerals. This article examines the phosphate project, which is considered as one of the industrial minerals important to the economy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, focusing on its production, the structure of its industry and the effects of government policies and planning efforts. © 2016 WIT Press, www.witpress.com.