Gulf investors rush into rare earths as Saudi Arabia and UAE target critical minerals boom

Middle Eastern investors are moving quickly into the rare earth industry as Gulf governments push to expand their roles in critical minerals and reduce dependence on oil, according to ￰0￱ executives said interest from the region has sharply increased, despite the fact that the Gulf has almost no local deposits of these ￰1￱ investments are focused on processing, partnerships, and downstream operations rather than new ￰2￱ shift is happening at the same time that global supply chains for rare earth elements are becoming more political, especially between the United States and ￰3￱ Sage, the CEO of U. S.-listed Critical Metals, said the level of interest surprised him during his recent business trip through the region.

“The interest in rare earths in this part of the world is phenomenal,” Tony ￰4￱ added that countries in the Gulf want to participate in the supply chain even though, as he put it, “they can’t mine ￰5￱ are really no discoveries in this area, but they want to be able to participate somehow in the downstream.” His remarks came as policymakers and business leaders gathered in Riyadh for the Future Investment Initiative, also known as “Davos in the Desert,” held under the theme: The Key to Prosperity: Unlocking New Frontiers of Growt ￰6￱ states move to secure roles in critical minerals Critical minerals include copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth ￰7￱ materials are considered essential to the energy transition and high-technology manufacturing, but their supply chains face a high risk of disruption due to concentration in a few producing ￰8￱ say Saudi Arabia and the UAE are trying to use their financial capital and geographic position to strengthen their role in these ￰9￱ International Institute for Strategic Studies said the Gulf strategy includes targeted acquisitions and international partnerships as governments try to present themselves as alternative partners to Western ￰10￱ Metals has already signed a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Obeikan Group to build a large-scale lithium hydroxide processing plant in the ￰11￱ plan aligns with Saudi Arabia’s long-term goal to diversify its economy as it continues to reduce its reliance on oil ￰12￱ Das, senior technical consultant at New Frontier Minerals, an Australian rare earth explorer, linked the surge in investor interest to rapid advances in artificial intelligence.

“It’s no surprise that you’re seeing interest, not just in the Western world, but spreading into the Gulf States because I think people are realizing that we’re probably on the cusp of an AI boom,” Kevin ￰13￱ added that as robotics becomes more common, “every robot is going to need these rare ￰14￱ I think the supply is only going to get tighter.” Rare earths gain importance in U. S.-China tensions Rare earth elements consist of 17 metals with magnetic properties widely used in electric vehicles, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and defense ￰15￱ materials have become part of the ongoing economic and geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China, with the latter delaying new export controls on rare earth shipments ahead of a summit between Donald Trump and leader Xi ￰16￱ analysts warn that the Gulf still faces major ￰17￱ Wajid, research analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said many of Saudi Arabia’s mining projects remain in early or conceptual phases and depend on foreign partners for technical ￰18￱ said it may take years before the Gulf can scale production enough to influence global supply ￰19￱ currently produces about 70% of the world’s rare earth supply and processes nearly 90%. ￰20￱ have said this dominance poses a strategic challenge as countries transition toward newer energy and technology ￰21￱ Bybit now and claim a $50 bonus in minutes