Maaden to build more gold mines

(MENAFN) Abdallah Saif Al-Saif, Maaden Chairman, said that the company would explore more in the Arabian Shield region and build new mines in an attempt to increase gold resources to 20 million ounces by 2020, reported Reuters. Al-Saif added that this step was taken in order to concentrate more on the Arabian Shield region. He said that the plan includes developing four new mines in an attempt to compensate the decrease in production in other existing mines. He also said that $16 billion were allocated for the development of phosphate, bauxite, gold, industrial minerals in Saudi Arabia. This is a part of a bigger plan in the Kingdom for having economic anchors in the economy other than the oil industry.