Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden), the Gulf's largest miner, has invested more than SR85 billion ($20 billion) in three major phosphate and aluminium projects in the kingdom.

The company has till date pumped more than SR21 billion ($6 billion) into Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) for the exploration of phosphate in Hazm Al Jalamid area in the northern region.

After the completion and reaching maximum production capacity, the Maaden projects are expected to make the kingdom a prime producer of phosphate and aluminium as well as other metals such as gold, copper and industrial minerals.

On the aluminium sector, Maaden said it began production for the first time in the kingdom in 2012 and is currently producing up to 740,000 tonnes per year.-Reuters