NC-Lavalin and SINOPEC in $764 deal with Saudi Arabian mining giant MA'ADEN

[al-Hasani]

NC-Lavalin, Sinopec in $764 Ma'aden deal
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Riyadh, 2 hours, 19 minutes ago

SNC-Lavalin, in consortium with Sinopec Engineering Group (SEG), has signed a major contract with Saudi Arabia’s Ma'aden for its 15,150 tonnes per day (tpy) sulphuric acid plant.

The contract is to provide engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and start-up services for the three-line plant. Also included in the agreement are two 75 MW power plants that will recover heat generated by the acid plant operations.

The total value of the contract is approximately $764 million with SNC-Lavalin's portion estimated at $500 million, said a statement.

The project was awarded as part of Ma'aden's Waad Al Shamal Phosphate Project, which involves the conversion of phosphate ore from the Al Khabra mine into various end products, primarily for the agricultural sector.

The contract signing was formalised at a ceremony held in Turaif, Saudi Arabia.

The sulphuric acid plant will use industry leading technology from MECS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DuPont, to produce acid and generate power through the efficient recovery of process waste heat. The project, scheduled to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2016, will be one of the largest complexes of its kind.

"We are honoured to be part of a project that will support Ma'aden in its mandate to develop its mineral resources and increase industrial development in the Northern Province and Al-Jouf areas of Saudi Arabia," said Dale Clarke, executive vice-president, SNC-Lavalin Group.

SNC-Lavalin is a longstanding leader in the sulphuric acid industry, having successfully installed more than 60 plants around the world over the past 25 years.

Ma'aden is a leading mining and metals company in Saudi Arabia, with a diverse portfolio of mineral assets at various stages of development including exploration, development and production.

SNC-Lavalin, Sinopec in $764 Ma'aden deal

EDIT: MA'ADEN is a Saudi Arabian mining firm involved in the exploration of mining sites, gold and metal mining inside KSA. It is the largest mining company in KSA and if not the largest mining company in the ME region.

SINOPEC is a Chinese engineering giant on the other hand while SNC-Lavalin is the largest construction and engineering company in Canada. So a big deal overall.

This makes perfect sense since KSA's biggest trading partner is China and in 2012 the trade volume between those two friendly countries was nearly $80 billion and is only expected to grow significantly each year in the near future.

 

[al-Hasani]

Short introduction to the MA'ADEN company and some of their recent and upcoming projects.

We need more of such firms in KSA, GCC and the Arab world although GCC is doing really well when it comes to big international firms.

We Arabs have always been good with business whenever we have been so we should focus on this aside from science, technology, engineering, mathematics, finance, innovation etc.

In every class minimum 25% of the pupils should pursue studies in those fields. Forced if necessary to study those subjects for the sake of the country. Being dictatorial sometimes helps. Might go all the way.