$2.5 trillion mineral treasure discovered in Saudi Arabia

$2.5 trillion mineral treasure discovered in Saudi Arabia, crown prince  reveals vision for mineral  wealth
Saudi Arabia strikes gold with $2.5 trillion mineral discovery. Crown Prince reveals ambitious plans to  exploit mineral  wealth
Mineral discovery in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest  oil exporter, is now  moving to diversify its economy  by devoting itself to the coveted  lithium mine. Known as  the "new  oil," the metal will be  mined between  oil giant Aramco and Ma'aden  Mining. Production will begin in 2027 to eventually  ramp up production with  growing demand not only  in Saudi  Arabia but around the  world.
As part of its Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia will focus less on oil. The government  aims to reduce its  dependence on oil by 2030 as part of  its strategy to  boost mining and other industries. It will increase its mining  revenues from  the current $17 billion to $64 billion  by 2030, the kingdom, which  is said to have about $2.5 trillion  in untapped mineral  resources, said.
Saudi Arabia expects  demand for lithium to  grow 20-fold by 2030 as it sees  a growing use of  electric vehicles. The kingdom is also endowed with other minerals, such as gold, bauxite,  cobalt and nickel, whose prices continue to  rise on global markets. In a new  discovery, the House of Saud and Saudi startup LihaTech extracted lithium from oil wells last  December.
The kingdom is  also expanding its mining interests  with plans to buy a stake in a gold mine in Pakistan. Saudi Arabia will also extract copper from Pakistani mines to meet its domestic  demand, which  is 365,000  tonnes per year. Saudi Arabia is positioning itself to become a major player in the global lithium market as the world moves  towards cleaner energy.