Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, has highlighted the efforts exerted by the personnel of the ministry of petroleum and mineral resources in preparing a technical, financial and statistical report on the activities of the holders of the mining licenses for the fiscal year 2007. The remarks of Prince Sultan were made in a message to minister of petroleum and mineral resources Eng Ali al-Naimi. The report pointed out that the number of the mining licenses which were valid by the end of 2007 amounted to 1,314, while the number of the places reserved for the mining activities amounted to 247 in various parts of the Kingdom on an area of more than 45, 000 square kilometers. Moreover, the report said the revenues of the investors whose industries are based on the exploitation of the mineral resources are estimated at about SR 14 billion, and their profits exceeded SR 5.2 billion, while their investments are estimated at about SR 45 billion.
