Ras Al-Khair (Also called Ras Az-Zour, Ras Azzour) is a town and port currently under development in the Eastern Province of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. It is on the eastern coast, 60 km (37 mi) north of

Jubail Jubail ( ar, الجبيل, ''Al Jubayl'') is a city in the Eastern province on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, with a total population of 684,531 as of 2021. It is home to the largest industrial city in the world. It is also home to th ...

. It is also known under its project name of "Minerals Industrial City".

Industry

The new city, RAZMIC (Ras Al Zour Mineral Industrial City), is planned to exploit the mineral deposites of phosphate and bauxite found within Saudi Arabia. Therefore, a di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) plant will be built, an

aluminium smelter Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery. This is an electrolyti ...

, an aluminium rolling mill, an

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wa ...

plant, an alumina refinery and facilities to produce phosphoric and sulphuric acid. Power will be supplied by the 2,400 MW

Ras Al-Khair Power and Desalination Plant The Ras Al-Khair Power and Desalination Plant is a power and desalination plant located in Ras Al-Khair on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. It is operated by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation of Saudi Arabia. The plant began operating in ...

. The official ground breaking for the aluminium project by the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (MA'ADEN) and Alcoa was on 19 June 2010. The project was scheduled to be completed by 2014. Among other projects a residential village for the MAADEN employees was built with 500 housing units. The King Salman Global Maritime Industries Complex is under construction in Ras Al-Khair, and will be the largest shipyard in the world when it is completed.

Transportation

Airport

The town is served by King Fahd International Airport, the terminal is at a driving distance of 180 km (112 mi) to the south.

Rail

Ras Az-Zour will be linked by the

Saudi Railways Organization The Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) ( ar, المؤسسة العامة للخطوط الحديدية) is one of two state-owned companies that operates Saudi Arabia's rail network along with Saudi Railway Company. The SRO operates a network of ...

to the

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...

mines at Zabirah with a new railway line branch of the North-South Project. Later the line will be extended to meet the line from

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...

via

Buraidah Buraidah ( ar, بريدة ') is the capital and largest city of Al-Qassim Region in north-central Saudi Arabia in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. Buraydah lies equidistant from the Red Sea to the west and Persian Gulf to the east. Its known fo ...

Haditha , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Inbound3292807512093856589نواعير حديثة.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption ...

at the so-called Zubairah Junction. As part of the

Saudi Landbridge Project The Saudi Landbridge Project is a planned railway project which forms part of the Saudi Railways Expansion Programme. Intended mainly for freight, the railway will connect Jeddah on the Red Sea coast with the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

another line will connect the new port to Jubail and to Dammam. Thus Ras Al-Zour will be connected to the bauxite mine near Zabirah, the

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

deposits near Jalamid and the agricultural center at Al-Basyata as well as to the oil processing facilities via the Jubail line.

Sea

The proposed seaport is thought to become a major export hub for aluminium products and ammonium phosphate.

Renaming

In July 2011, King Abdullah changed the name of Ras Az-Zour to Ras Al-Khair (with ''Khair'' meaning light or bright to have a more positive naming), according to a statement by President of the

Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu The Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) was established on 21 September 1975, as an autonomous organization of the Saudi Arabian Government. The commission is governed by a board of directors and its chairman reports to the Council of Mi ...

Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thunayan to the Saudi Press Agency on 6 July 2011.Okaz newspaper - Renaming of Ras Al-Zour
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References

External links

Mining is new pillar of the Saudi economy
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www.RasAlKhair.com {{Saudi Arabia topics Geography of Saudi Arabia Populated places in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia Populated coastal places in Saudi Arabia Port cities in the Arabian Peninsula Port cities and towns in Saudi Arabia