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The Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry awarded exploration licenses for six exploration sites in Riyadh, Makkah, and Asir, according to a statement. The sites cover an area of 850 sq km located in Riyadh, Asir, and Makkah regions. The sites’ reserves contain a mix of gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead.
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The details: The companies and consortiums awarded the licenses all committed SAR 75 mn in investments for the exploration efforts, and an additional SAR 5 mn for community development near the sites. The tenders were part of the Exploration Enablement Program announced by the government earlier this year that aims to incentivize mineral exploration by reducing early-stage risks for mining investments.
The awardees:
- A consortium of ANS Exploration Company and Odyssey Metals Ltd. landed the Umm Qusur site in Riyadh;
- The Shaib Marqan site in Riyadh went to the Auking Mining Ltd. and Barg Alsaman consortium;
- Saudi Gold and Minerals Ltd landed Wadi Ad Dawsh in Asir;
- A consortium, including the Metal Bank Ltd., secured the Wadi Al Junah site in Asir;
- A consortium between RWAKED Construction & Mining and Masharf was awarded the Hazm Shubat site in Asir;
- The Midad Almona and Tinka Resources Ltd. consortium landed Huwaymidan in Makkah.
More mining licenses in the pipeline: The ministry announced earlier in October it is accepting bids for seven new mining exploration licenses across Makkah and Riyadh, covering an area of nearly 1.1k sq km. The ministry said it will be accepting bids from local and foreign investors until mid-November through its Taadeen platform. The sites have reserves of key minerals, including gold, copper, zinc, and silver.
REMEMBER- Saudi Arabia has big mining plans: The ministry launched a fresh incentive package worth SAR 685 mn earlier this year as part of efforts to expand the sector and tap reserves of gold, phosphate and others. The goal is to attract local and foreign mining investors as part of a push to become a global hub for metals critical for the energy transition and become an EV manufacturing hub. The nation’s untapped mineral resources are now worth as much as USD 2.5 tn, or 90% more than the last forecast in 2016.
ALSO- The ministry signed an MoU with Sukuk Capital to facilitate access to financing solutions for startups in the mining sector, it said in a post on X.
