Saudi Arabian mining company Maaden will pursue a growth programme that will “blow people’s hair back” as it develops the country’s untapped resources, its boss has said.

Chief executive Bob Wilt said the Riyadh-listed company had set new targets as part of a “strategy refresh” that seeks to double gold production by 2030 and develop a rare earths supply chain.

The plans by one of the biggest mining companies in the Middle East comes as Saudi Arabia seeks to grow the sector under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 initiative to reduce the economy’s dependence on hydrocarbons.

“Our story is organic growth,” Wilt told the Financial Times. “We will blow people’s hair back with the scale of the reserve, and how quickly we are going to get there in terms of production.”