Saudi Arabia is considering trying to establish a formal trading platform for minerals critical to the energy transition like graphite and rare earths, as the country continues its attempts to diversify away from oil as the primary source of revenue. The Saudi Vice-Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources claims that his country has been in discussions with industry participants for the last three months, and doesn’t expect a decision to be made for another six, giving a prospective timeline for the idea somewhere in late 2024. Riyadh effectively wants to set up a specialty exchange within the country for critical minerals, giving it significant control over the flow of resources relevant to the energy transition – part of setting up…