Saudi Arabia Announces Major Rare Earth, Uranium Find

Saudi Arabia announced in September 2026 the discovery of an estimated 110 to 114 million tonnes of ore at the Jabal Sayid project in the Madinah region, containing high concentrations of rare earth elements and promising uranium deposits. The project area lies roughly 350 km northeast of Jeddah.

the Jabal Sayid deposit is estimated to hold around 552,000 tonnes of heavy rare earths and 355,000 tonnes of light rare earths, along with an associated uranium resource of roughly 31,000 tonnes. The find is described as one of the most important rare earth resource discoveries globally, notable for its high heavy rare earth content and overall resource value.

The discovery has helped push Saudi Arabia's estimate of its untapped mineral potential from about $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion, reflecting new rare earth findings and larger volumes of phosphate, gold, zinc, and copper, alongside a revaluation of existing minerals.

Why it matters

The National Atomic Energy Project is advancing a uranium exploration and economic utilization program on multiple tracks, including exploration at Jabal Sayid, a partnership between Ma'aden and MP Materials to build rare earth processing, separation, and associated uranium production capabilities, and continued work through the Sedimentary Cover Survey Initiative to identify additional conventional uranium resources.

A national mining investment program aims to mobilize around SAR 375 billion in new mining investments by 2035, with part directed toward critical minerals and rare earths. Ma'aden's 2026 strategy includes an approximately $110 billion plan across eight megaprojects spanning gold, phosphate, aluminium, copper, lithium, and rare earths, including a planned rare earth processing hub estimated at about $10 billion and targeted to operate around 2032.

As of 2025-2026, the Kingdom is still developing its rare earth and battery-metal processing capacity, with projects in study, feasibility, and early implementation stages and no fully commercial-scale plants yet in operation.

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