Middle east rare earth development moved from geological curiosity to strategic priority in November 2025, when MP Materials (NYSE: MP), the U.S. Department of War (DoW), and Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden signed a binding agreement to build the region’s first rare earth refining facility — anchored by a deposit the Saudi government ranks as the fourth most valuable rare earth reserve on earth.
The Jabal Sayid deposit, located approximately 350 kilometres northeast of Jeddah, holds an estimated 552,000 tonnes of heavy rare earth elements — principally dysprosium and terbium — and 355,000 tonnes of light rare earths, including neodymium and praseodymium, according to the Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources. Total Saudi rare earth reserves are estimated at approximately 3.2 million tonnes, representing around 1.5% of the global total, per the Saudi Geological Survey.
The region’s broader mineral endowment — valued by Saudi government estimates at $2.5 trillion across 45 identified minerals — underpins a strategy that extends well beyond one country. Qatar, Oman, and the UAE have each committed capital or signed frameworks to position themselves as downstream processing and investment hubs within the same supply chain reconfiguration.
Middle East Rare Earth Deposits — What the Region Holds
Saudi Arabia holds the region’s most significant confirmed rare earth resource base. The Jabal Sayid deposit, located within the Arabian Shield geological formation, is a polymetallic site hosting the rare earth resource alongside an estimated 31,000 tonnes of uranium, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Adjacent unexplored zones are under assessment and could materially extend the resource.
The heavy rare earth profile at Jabal Sayid is its primary strategic value. Dysprosium and terbium are irreplaceable in high-performance permanent magnets — the components that allow electric vehicle motors, wind turbine generators, and defence guidance systems to function at elevated temperatures. The deposit’s concentration of both elements in a single, large, commercially viable body is rare outside China’s ionic clay provinces in Jiangxi.
Elsewhere in the region, Iran has mapped rare earth anomalies across approximately 7,000 sq km in Central Iran and Yazd Province and opened a monazite production facility in the Abbas Abad Industrial Zone, focused on light rare earths, titanium, and associated minerals. Iran’s resource programme operates under international sanctions, which limits Western capital access and constrains offtake options. Turkey holds untapped reserves currently undergoing certification, while Pakistan’s Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan provinces host monazite and fluorite deposits at an early stage of evaluation.
Saudi Arabia’s Rare Earth Strategy
The Ma’aden–MP Materials–DoW joint venture, announced on 19 November 2025, is the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s rare earth strategy. Under the binding term sheet, Ma’aden holds a minimum 51% stake in the refining joint venture, with MP Materials and the DoW jointly holding 49%. The DoW provides full non-recourse financing for the US contribution; MP Materials contributes its technical expertise in rare earth separation and refining. The facility is designed to process feedstock from Saudi deposits and international sources, producing separated light and heavy rare earth oxides for US, Saudi, and allied-nation customers.
MP Materials, which operates the Mountain Pass mine in California — the only producing rare earth mine in the United States — had already received a $400 million DoW equity stake in July 2025. The Saudi joint venture is an extension of that public-private partnership, giving the US a geographically diversified processing base along Red Sea trade routes and access to heavy rare earth feedstock that Mountain Pass does not produce at scale. MP is also in discussions to establish magnet manufacturing capacity in the Kingdom.
In a parallel initiative, Critical Metals Corp signed a joint venture with Saudi interests in early 2026 to process up to 25% of the rare earth output from Greenland’s Tanbreez mine within Saudi Arabia — channelling Arctic feedstock into Gulf processing infrastructure, with output targeted at Western markets.
Manara Minerals, the joint venture between Ma’aden and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), operates as the Kingdom’s global minerals investment vehicle. Manara has acquired a 10% stake in Vale Base Metals and has committed capital to mineral mapping initiatives in Brazil and elsewhere, reflecting a strategy to secure upstream feedstock rights across multiple geographies.
UAE, Oman and Qatar — Downstream Ambitions
The UAE’s rare earth role is primarily financial and logistical rather than resource-based. On 4 February 2026, the UAE and US signed a Framework on Securing Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths, signed on the sidelines of the US Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington DC. The framework commits both governments to mobilise public and private investment across mining, processing, and recycling value chains, with priority projects to be financed within six months of signing. The UAE is also a participant in the $1.8 billion Orion Critical Minerals Consortium alongside the US and Orion Resource Partners.
Abu Dhabi has a $1.4 billion lithium-processing facility under development, positioning the emirate as a downstream processor rather than an upstream extractor. The UAE’s sovereign wealth infrastructure — spanning Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Mubadala — has deployed capital into upstream mining equity stakes across Africa and Latin America, securing offtake exposure to critical mineral supply chains without geological exposure in the Emirates itself.
Oman has secured $1.1 billion in Chinese investment for a lithium-ion battery plant in the Sohar Freezone, targeting EV battery supply chains with processing infrastructure that could extend to rare earth compounds as the facility scales. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has backed Ascend Elements, a US battery recycling company, adding a downstream circular economy angle to Gulf capital deployment in the critical minerals space.
Middle East Rare Earth in the Global Supply Chain
The regional buildout is explicitly designed to reduce dependency on China’s refining dominance. China controls approximately 70% of global rare earth mining and 90% of processing capacity, according to multiple government sources including the US State Department. In October 2025, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced export control measures requiring approval for any product containing more than 0.1% Chinese rare earth components — a measure that effectively extends Beijing’s influence across downstream supply chains in third countries.
The Ma’aden refinery, once operational, would provide the US with access to separated heavy rare earth oxides — dysprosium and terbium in particular — from a non-Chinese processing node. This addresses a specific gap: the US currently produces light rare earths at Mountain Pass but remains heavily import-dependent for heavy rare earths. See the full picture in our analysis of China’s rare earth export controls and the top 10 western rare earth supply chain projects building capacity outside China.
The Middle East offers structural advantages for rare earth processing that are difficult to replicate elsewhere: low-cost energy, streamlined permitting under state-directed industrial policy, deep capital pools through sovereign wealth funds, and a geographic position between Asian feedstock producers and Western end-users. The combination of Saudi feedstock, Gulf capital, and US technical expertise is the template the Ma’aden JV embodies.
Middle East Rare Earth Market Outlook
The Middle East and Africa rare earth elements market generated revenue of approximately $12.2 million in 2024 and is projected to reach $18.0 million by 2030, a CAGR of 7.2%, according to market data provided in the brief. Neodymium and praseodymium represent the largest and fastest-growing revenue segments in the region, driven by NdFeB magnet demand for EV motors and wind turbines.
Near-term growth drivers include the ramp-up of the Ma’aden refinery JV — groundbreaking and construction timelines had not been publicly confirmed as of May 2026 and are subject to revision — and the expansion of UAE and Omani downstream processing capacity. The Critical Metals Corp–Tanbreez JV adds an early-stage feedstock pipeline that, if it reaches commercial scale, would give Saudi processing infrastructure a non-domestic ore source ahead of Jabal Sayid reaching full production.
For a broader view of how regional rare earth hubs are developing globally, see our rare earth regional mining hubs analysis. For the MP Materials company profile, including its Mountain Pass operations and DoW partnership history, see the dedicated page.
| Country | Key Asset / Initiative | Status | Strategic Alignment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | Jabal Sayid HREE deposit; Ma’aden–MP–DoW refinery JV | JV binding term sheet signed Nov 2025; refinery pre-development | US–Saudi critical minerals framework |
| UAE | US–UAE critical minerals framework; $1.4bn lithium facility; Orion Consortium | Framework signed Feb 2026; facility under development | US–UAE bilateral framework; FORGE initiative |
| Oman | $1.1bn Sohar Freezone battery plant | Investment secured; construction phase | Chinese investment; Gulf industrial diversification |
| Qatar | Sovereign wealth backing for Ascend Elements (battery recycling) | Investment confirmed | Downstream circular economy / Western tech |
| Iran | Monazite facility, Abbas Abad; 7,000 sq km REE mapping | Facility operational; mapping ongoing | Domestic programme; sanctions-constrained |
Does the Middle East have rare earth deposits?
Yes. Saudi Arabia holds the most significant confirmed deposit — Jabal Sayid, located approximately 350 kilometres northeast of Jeddah, contains an estimated 552,000 tonnes of heavy rare earth elements including dysprosium and terbium, and 355,000 tonnes of light rare earths including neodymium and praseodymium. The Saudi Geological Survey estimates total national reserves at around 3.2 million tonnes. Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan also hold mapped deposits, though at earlier stages of evaluation.
What is Saudi Arabia’s rare earth strategy?
Saudi Arabia is pursuing a two-track strategy: developing its domestic Jabal Sayid deposit and building downstream processing capacity through international joint ventures. The centrepiece is a binding joint venture between Ma’aden (≥51%), MP Materials, and the US Department of War (jointly 49%) to build a rare earth refinery in the Kingdom. Manara Minerals, Ma’aden’s global investment arm, is simultaneously acquiring upstream feedstock positions across multiple countries.
What is the Jabal Sayid rare earth deposit?
Jabal Sayid is a polymetallic deposit on Saudi Arabia’s Arabian Shield, located about 350 km northeast of Jeddah. It hosts an estimated 552,000 tonnes of heavy rare earth elements — primarily dysprosium and terbium — and 355,000 tonnes of light rare earths including neodymium and praseodymium. The Saudi government ranks it the fourth most valuable rare earth reserve globally. The deposit is also co-located with approximately 31,000 tonnes of uranium.
How does the Middle East fit into the global rare earth supply chain?
Primarily as a processing and financing hub rather than a major mining region. China controls approximately 90% of global rare earth processing. The Ma’aden–MP Materials–DoW refinery would, once operational, provide a non-Chinese processing node for both Saudi and internationally sourced feedstock, with output supplied to US defence manufacturers and allied-nation customers. The UAE and Qatar deploy sovereign wealth capital into upstream mining equity across Africa and Latin America, securing offtake rights across the broader supply chain.
What is the rare earth market size in the Middle East?
The Middle East and Africa rare earth elements market generated approximately $12.2 million in revenue in 2024 and is projected to reach $18.0 million by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 7.2%. Neodymium and praseodymium are the dominant and fastest-growing revenue segments in the region, driven by NdFeB permanent magnet demand from electric vehicle and wind energy manufacturers.
