Infrastructure

The 1,500 km long north- south railway line was been built and is owned and operated by Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR). The railway links the phosphate mine at Al Jalamid and the bauxite mine site at Al Ba'itha to the mineral industries complex at Ras Al Khair. The railway was developed by SAR and financed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), a division of the Ministry of Finance, as part of a programme of national infrastructure development in the Kingdom. The first train from Al Jalamid to Ras Al Khair completed the journey in May 2011.

The port at Ras Al Khair was constructed and is owned and operated by the Saudi Ports Authority and was built to serve more than 80 different industrial projects in the region including the import and export requirements of Ma'aden's aluminium and phosphate operations. The port received its first vessel in February 2011.

In October 2009 Ma'aden signed a power conversion agreement with the Saline Water Conversion Company (SWCC) and Saudi Electricity Company (SEC). SWCC are constructing and will own and operate a power and desalination plant which will generate 2400 MW of electricity and 1.025 million cubic metres of water per day. Of that, the aluminium complex will use 1,350 MW of electricity and 25,000 cubic metres per day of water. The rest of the water will be pumped to the cities of Riyadh, Hafr Al-Batin and Nuayriyah. SEC's share will be 1,050 MW of electricity, some of which will power downstream industries at the mineral industry complex at Ras Al Khair.

Certain common infrastructure facilities at Ras Al Khair including serviced land, roads, drainage, lighting, accommodation and a power grid connection as well as power transformation and distribution facilities were initially developed by Ma'aden Infrastructure Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ma'aden. The Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu will manage the Ras Al Khair Industrial Area and provide services for industries located there in the same way as Jubail and Yanbu Industrial cities.