PRESS RELEASE: GE will provide Ma'aden with digital transformation advisory and applications, as well as leadership and training opportunities for Ma'aden's employees across Saudi Arabia.

To maintain its competitive position across several commodities, Ma'aden is pursuing a number of partnerships in order to capture the opportunities found in digitisation and innovation, and will invest in the application of pioneering technologies in its operations in Saudi Arabia in order to remain ahead of the competition and reinforce the company as a global mining leader. GE's digital mining solutions will look at specific areas within Ma'aden, including solutions that make adaptations for improving ore grades; reduce fuel and energy costs and usage; improve equipment reliability and availability; reduce maintenance costs; and increase productivity and efficiency across operations.

Darren Davis, acting president and CEO at Ma'aden, said: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has high aspirations for the deployment of new technology and the digitisation of industrial landscape in the country. Ma'aden is committed to championing the responsible development of the mining sector as a major pillar of the Saudi economy and digitalisation, as part of the fourth industrial revolution, will be key to ensuring we achieve our goal of becoming a ‘sustainable mining champion'. This initiative will unlock the next wave of significant value creation and increase our competitiveness and sustainability. Our partnership with GE is an important step and we look forward to working together to develop and utilise new digital solutions for our industry."

Bill Ruh, president and CEO at GE Digital, added: "We are partnering with organisations across heavy industries around the world to bring digital solutions to their operations. The scale and impact of organisations such as Ma'aden is enormous, and we know that the optimisation and increases in efficiency will have a major impact on the company and the country. By working together to develop solutions that are tailored for the sector and environment in which they will operate, we can ensure truly positive outcomes."