Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) revealed studies showing that the volume of the Kingdom’s mineral wealth is much more than the preliminary estimates at $1.3 trillion. It pointed to the efforts and accelerated exploration program that will be implemented in the coming years to determine the size of wealth as it nears launching a database in April. It also expected to attract $500 billion-worth investments over the next 10 years. Preliminary studies conducted by the SGS and existing businesses confirm that the volume of wealth is much higher than this figure, Head of the SGS Hussein al-Otaibi affirmed Thursday in press remarks on the sidelines of the fifth annual forum, which was held in Riyadh under the slogan “Our Land”. Regarding Saudi Arabia’s reserves of phosphates, Otaibi said the Kingdom is among the world’s top 10 countries having the largest phosphate reserves. “We expect the Kingdom to be the second or third country by 2030 to produce phosphate fertilizers,” he said. When asked about the Uranium reserves, Otaibi said Saudi Arabia has large reserves of uranium, according to recent studies. “Currently, we are in the assessment phase, and current results have shown promising quantities with expectations of owning five percent of the worlds uranium reserves, and I think studies will prove more than this global ratio.” He said the SGS will soon launch the first version of the geological database, noting that in collaboration with scientific bodies, ministries and other concerned bodies, it was able to collect historical information on the country’s geology, spanning more than 80 years. Otaibi also pointed out that this database is stored in one place and is digitized and ready to be used, adding that the initial version has been launched and the first version is expected to be launched within a month for investors and those interested in geology and mining. “We currently own about 70 terabytes of data stored in reports, maps and satellite images,” Otaibi explained, adding that this is a very large amount of information on minerals and mining.