Amman, Sept. 14 (Petra) -- Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said exploration and geological studies at the Jabal Sayid project in the Madinah region had revealed estimated resources of about 114 million tonnes of ore containing high concentrations of rare minerals, particularly heavy rare earth elements, along with promising concentrations of uranium.

According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Saudi energy minister, speaking at his country's address to the 70th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, said the kingdom's national atomic energy project was moving forward with a program to explore uranium resources and assess opportunities for their economic utilization.

He said the program was based on several interconnected tracks, including the extraction of uranium associated with phosphoric acid during phosphate fertilizer production processes in the north of the country. He noted that Saudi Arabia is the world's second-largest exporter of phosphate fertilizers.

He added that pilot work conducted in cooperation with the French nuclear group, Orano, had shown promising economic indicators for extracting uranium from these processes. The cooperation culminated in the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) during the Crown Prince's visit to France last August.

//Petra// AF