AI to Accelerate New Deposit Discoveries, Boost Efficiency, Saudi Minister Affirms
The 8th Future Investment Initiative conference was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 29-31 dubbed ‘Infinite Horizons: Investing Today, Shaping Tomorrow’.
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef highlighted the importance of developing all sectors of economy in an interview with Sputnik on the sidelines of the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference.
“For the past 70 years, our economy has been based on oil and gas. And we have achieved great success in this field. But we need to move on. According to [the] Vision 2030 project, we will launch and develop other sectors of our economy, including mining. We are already engaged in research, and we are launching a program of extensive geological surveys. This is a new direction for us, we have not been involved in it before,” Bandar Alkhorayef said.
He pointed to the substantial global demand for mineral resources that are essential for the operation of emerging production sectors. Without these resources, the manufacturing of electric vehicles and batteries would be unfeasible.
“The work of artificial intelligence will be very useful here, it will speed up the discovery of new deposits, increase the efficiency of mines and their safety. The use of unmanned vehicles in the mine will greatly help to reduce risks, mine operating can be managed at a considerable distance,” the minister said.
Bandar Alkhorayef stressed that “the mining industry had great prospects because the whole world is created from mineral resources. To produce clean energy from the sun, wind, and hydrogen, one needs equipment made of metals that have to be mined”.
The Saudi minister earlier told Sputnik that Saudi Arabia has strong economic relations with BRICS member countries.
The Future Investment Initiative was established in 2017 by the Public Investment Fund to host an annual event that unites individuals and organizations committed to investing in the most promising solutions.
