By Sumayya
Saudi Arabia has found around 110 million tonnes of rock holding high amounts of rare earth metals and good amounts of uranium in the Madinah area, Energy Chief Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has declared.
The discovery was shown at the 70th Regular Meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Talks and comes after hunting and ground studies done at the Jabal Sayid project.
Prince Abdulaziz said the stores hold very high amounts of heavy rare earth items, along with good uranium amounts.
“Hunting and ground studies at the Jabal Sayid project in Madinah have shown guessed assets of around 110 million tonnes of rock with high amounts of rare earth metals, mainly the heavy items, along with good amounts of uranium,” he said at the IAEA General Meeting.
The news comes months after Washington and Riyadh made official a civil nuclear teamwork pact, signed by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Prince Abdulaziz on July 22.
The US Department of Energy said the pacts set up the legal base for a long-time, multi-billion-dollar friendship and give US firms with bigger path to Saudi Arabia’s civil nuclear energy setup. Teamwork gains speed after US visit
Prince Abdulaziz said steps to grow the Kingdom’s vital metals and nuclear areas moved faster following Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s trip to the United States in November 2025.
During the trip, Saudi Arabia and the US grew teamwork on vital metals and supply paths, including through a friendship between Saudi state mining firm Maaden and US firm MP Materials.
The trip also brought a Strategic Plan for Teamwork on vital metals, materials and uranium.
Under the plan, the US Department of Defense agreed to pay for 49 per cent of a new rare earth processing factory in Saudi Arabia. Maaden is thought to hold a leading 51 per cent share, along with MP Materials, which runs the only rare earth mine and processing factory in the US. Jabal Sayid’s vital value
Set about 350km north-east of Jeddah in the Madinah area, Jabal Sayid is already seen as one of Saudi Arabia’s most vitally important rare earth stores.
A study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), listing guesses from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and Maaden, said the spot could place fourth worldwide.
The guesses include around 552,000 tonnes of heavy rare earth items like dysprosium and terbium, as well as an added 355,000 tonnes of light rare earths, including neodymium and praseodymium.
The same study guesses that the spot holds about 31,000 tonnes of uranium. The mix of rare earth and uranium assets could strengthen Saudi Arabia’s goals to build a local nuclear fuel path and possibly give materials to the US.
Separately, the Saudi Press Agency reported in November 2025 that the guessed worth of the Kingdom’s rare earth item finds had touched $100 billion, up 90 per cent from 2018.
Studies by the Saudi Geological Survey have found two far-stage hunting areas holding around 644 million tonnes of metal assets, further showing Saudi Arabia’s growing goals to build its vital metals area.
