The Saudi Mining & Minerals Exhibition & Symposium 2015 was told that the Waad al-Shamal City training institute is due to open in 2017 to supply skilled workers for the kingdom’s minerals and mining industry.

Technical & Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) vice president Abdulaziz al-Amr said the new institute, the second mining and minerals vocational training body, will have capacity to train 2,500 students. Programmes will encompass university and high school graduates.

The kingdom’s first mining and minerals vocational training initiative is the Saudi Mining Polytechnic in Arar in the north of Saudi Arabia. It was established by the Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma’aden and the TVTC of Saudi Arabia in 2012. Its first group of students graduated in March 2015.

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Ali al-Naimi told the conference on 27 October that plans to expand the kingdom’s mining and minerals industry call for the creation of 100,000 new jobs in the sector. At present, about 60,000 people work in mining and minerals.

The inaugural event for Saudi Arabia’s mining industry is designed to engage all stakeholders in the sector from upstream exploration to downstream industrial development. More than 3,000 delegates and visitors are expected. The exhibition features 50 exhibitors from 10 countries. 

The Saudi Mining & Minerals Exhibition & Symposium 2015 is jointly organised by MEED Events and Montgomery Star. Sponsors are Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma’aden, Atheeb Intergraph Saudi Company, Outotec, Ali Salem Al Raddadi Factory, Saudi Specialty Chemical Industries Company Limited (SSCI), ThyssenKrupp, SRK Consulting, Roscoe Postle Associates and The Saudi British Bank.

The exhibition and symposium is taking place until 29 October at the Prince Sultan Grand Hall, Al Faisaliah Exhibition & Convention Centre in Riyadh.

For more about the event, see:  www.saudi-mining.com.