Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has appointed Robert Wilt (Bob) as the new chief executive officer effective February 1.

Engineer Abdulaziz AlHarbi, who was the acting CEO, has been named the new Deputy CEO, said the statement from Maaden. The board of directors expressed their appreciation to Al Harbi for his successful tenure as acting CEO and wishing success to Bob for his new role as the CEO.

Born in the US, Wilt brings almost 30 years of experience in engineering, mining and multinational corporate management to join Ma’aden during a phase of rapid expansion as the company seeks out untapped mineral deposits across the Kingdom with the aim of contributing to Vision 2030’s shift away from oil dependency.

Before joining Ma’aden, Wilt worked at Sofina Foods, a privately owned meat and seafood processing company with 44 sites in Canada and Europe, where he served as president and CEO from 2019 to 2021. Prior to that, in 2017, Wilt worked at PCC Metals Group, a subsidiary of Precision Castparts Corp. of Cleveland, which built large structural castings and aircraft/rocket fasteners among other high-end metal products.