Vedanta invests $2 billion in copper and gold mining in Saudi Arabia

The Indian mining company Vedanta Ltd. plans to increase investments in Saudi Arabia and start mining copper and gold in the west of the country in six to eight months. Vedanta has officially received a license along with other international companies, including China's Zijin Mining Group and Australian steel magnate Gina Reinhart's Hancock Prospecting.

Vedanta has built a value chain from mining to processing in metals "in India, so we know what to do and how to do it," said the executive director of the copper-nickel company in India and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Punit Khurana. "Now we are ready to do this for Saudi Arabia as well," he added.

Vedanta plans to sign a contract for exploration and development of its first mine in the Jabal Said belt by mid—January, Khurana said.

The Indian company has already announced investments of $2 billion in the construction of copper processing plants in Saudi Arabia.

The Chinese company Zijin also plans to step up exploration in partnership with local companies and told Bloomberg that it could start mining copper and gold in Saudi Arabia in five years.