Khalid Al-Falih new chairman of Maaden

AlKHOBAR: The Public Investment Fund (PIF) replaced four of its representatives on the board of Maaden, the Gulf’s largest miner, in which it owns 49.99 percent.
Saudi Arabia’s Mining Co. (Maaden) said its board now includes the chairman of Saudi Aramco, Khalid Al-Falih and prominent Saudi businesswoman Lubna Al-Olayan.
Besides Al-Falih and Al-Olayan, the representatives will include Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Issa a board member of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and Abdallah Al-Saadan Aramco’s senior vice president for Finance, Strategy and Development, Maaden said in a bourse statement.
It said the appointments were made as part of the government’s plan to promote the mining sector.
Saudi Arabia said on Monday it wants to introduce structural reform to the mining sector which the world’s largest oil exporter wants to be a pillar of the economy. Its Vision 2030 plan sees it substantially reducing its reliance on oil.
Also on Monday, the government said SR97 billion ($26 billion) would be the contribution of the mining sector to GDP by 2020, creating 90,000 jobs.
Maaden said Abdallah Saif Al-Saif, its chairman who was a former senior executive of Aramco has resigned.
It added that two other board members were also appointed and shareholders will be asked to approve all the appointments at a future meeting.