Maaden Signs Accord for Magnesite Plant

RIYADH, August 18, SPA -- Saudi Arabian Mining Co said Monday it has
signed an agreement with local firm Olayan Descon to build a
Magnesite processing plant.

The plant will cost SR95 million ($25.3 million) and produce 140,000
tonnes per year of Magnesite over the next 20 years, Maaden said in a
statement on the bourse’s website.

Maaden is Saudi Arabia’s largest mining firm by market value.

The plant will turn white mineral Magnesite into caustic calcinated
magnesia which can be used in agriculture, construction, and fuel
additives and dead burned magnesia which can be used for glass and
refractory production.

The contract with Olayan Descon covers both mine infrastructure work
and the construction of the processing plant, Maaden said.

“Work at both sites will begin as soon as mobilization is complete,”
Maaden said. “This important new project ... expands Maaden’s growing
industrial minerals portfolio,” Abdullah Dabbagh, Maaden’s chief
executive, said in an emailed statement quoted by the Jeddah-based
Saudi Gazette.

--SPA