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(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia faces a pivotal moment in its push to build a metals and mining hub, with foreign players still showing more hunger for the kingdom’s cash than a willingness to deploy their capital.

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As the metals industry gathered for the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh last week, at least a dozen attendees that commented to Bloomberg spoke of their desire to court Saudi money rather than invest in the nation just yet. Many awaited details on how talk of big deals and plans for metals plants are playing out on the ground.

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“We’re at the show me stage,” said Mark Selby, Chief Executive Officer for Canada Nickel Co., which is hoping to draw investment to a mine in Ontario and considering a JV with Middle East players. “There’s a lot of stuff in progress but there is yet to be many shovels in the ground.”

Saudi Arabia touted $100 billion of local investment opportunities at the event and estimates it has $2.5 trillion in mineral resources to be dug up. Its dream is to make metals and mining the so-called “third pillar” of the local economy as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s push to diversify beyond oil and petrochemicals.

Adding minerals exploration and processing would also help supply dozens of mega projects and ease inflated import costs that are squeezing the country’s finances.

To drive its ambitions, Saudi Arabia tasked the mining company known as Maaden with growing the domestic industry and started Manara Minerals in 2023 to snap up overseas assets. But Manara has so far completed just one major deal — with Brazilian mining company Vale — and the country has drawn few major miners to Saudi soil.

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“I think we have a good base, but I wouldn’t say it’s happening fast enough,” Saudi Mining Minister Bandar Alkhorayef said in an interview during the forum.

Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp. has forayed into Saudi Arabia and operates a copper mine on the southwestern coast near the Red Sea. McEwen Mining Inc. CEO Rob McEwen, who attended the event, said he’s keen on copper and gold sites in the kingdom but has yet to make any investment decision.

Saudi miner Al Masane Al Kobra Mining Co. noted it’s in early-stage talks with a major international firm but declined to offer further detail. Known as Amak, the company plans to triple spending on drilling this year as it explores for more copper and gold.

While it’s focused on mining, it expects that investments in downstream processing plants may come within the next five years, helped by government incentives and regulations, according to Chairman Mohammed Aballala.

“Exploration and drilling is going to be huge,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the forum. “What we really need is a copper smelter and refinery.”

Vedanta Ltd is among the biggest foreign firms advancing Saudi Arabia’s ambitions. The Indian company said in November that it plans to invest $2 billion to build copper-processing facilities in the country, with production expected in 2026. Turkish steelmaker Tosyali Holding AS is also eyeing a $5 billion investment in a steel plant in the kingdom.

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Other recent agreements geared toward downstream operations include China’s Zijin Group and Australia’s Hastings Technology Metals Ltd. More than 100 MOUs — which don’t guarantee projects will get done — and agreements were signed at the Future Minerals Forum.

“There are agreements to process minerals in Saudi Arabia,” said Mark Cutifani, who leads the board at Vale’s base metals unit. “But it’s still too early.”

That unit is providing some metals supply to Manara as part of a deal struck in mid-2023. Manara is trading those metals on the market until Saudi Arabia has a place to process them at home.

Similar deals may soon come to fruition. Saudi Arabia is in talks with the Pakistan government to buy its minority stake in a Barrick mine in the country. The deal, which may include a Saudi investment of $1 billion, was expected to be completed last year but is hung up over where minerals supply will be processed.

Saudi officials have also shown interest in minerals from Chile and Canada, and Zambia expects the kingdom will soon make investments there after an MOU was signed last week.

For now, the message in Saudi Arabia is that the country needs to move faster. 

Maaden CEO Robert Wilt made a proposal last year to the board to cut development time from exploration to mining to nine years from 20 by using new, innovative methods.

“The chairman said that was unacceptable,” he said. “We need to go faster. So that’s the speed and sense of urgency in the kingdom.”

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