The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has announced the names of the companies qualified to participate in the competition for exploration licenses at the "Um Hadeed, Bir Amq, and Jabal Al-Suhaybah" mining sites, which contain a variety of copper, zinc, gold, silver, and lead ores.
The Ministry's official spokesperson, Mr. Jaraah bin Mohammed Al-Jarah, clarified that the new companies qualified to compete for exploration licenses at the three sites are: Royal Mining Group, Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden), Al-Majid Mining Factories (AMAK), Indian Precious Metals, Energy Transition Minerals, Steepy Gold, Lotus Gold, Mawared Mining, the Alara Saudi Ventures consortium, Tasneem Holding Company, and South West Pinnacle, in addition to previously qualified companies under the Ministry's regulations, which include: Barrick Gold T7 Ltd., ERG Arabia Ltd., Yalmadin Ltd., Panoro Minerals Ltd., and the consortium of Al-Dhahabi and Minerals Ltd., Abdulrahman Saad Al-Rashed & Sons (Artar), Alajlan & Brothers Mining, Nourin Mining, Royal Road Consortium, and MSB Holding.
The spokesperson also mentioned that the Bir Amq site, located in the Madinah region, covers an area of 187 square kilometers and contains copper and zinc ores, while the Um Hadeed site in Riyadh, covering 246 square kilometers, contains silver, lead, zinc, and copper ores. Additionally, the Jabal Al-Suhaybah site in the Asir region, covering 283 square kilometers, has a variety of zinc, lead, and copper ores.
Al-Jarah further explained that the announcement of the names of the qualified competitors marks the end of the first phase of the competition process. The Ministry will continue receiving offers from the qualified competitors until July 2023, with the winning companies expected to be announced in August 2023.
Qualified competitors will be required to submit their work programs, technical capabilities, innovation programs for the sites, and environmental and social impact plans, including employment ratios and local procurement from surrounding areas, to contribute to the development of these regions.
The launch of the mining exploration license competitions is part of the Kingdom’s efforts under the Accelerated Exploration Initiative, which was announced by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and the Saudi Geological Survey earlier last year. The initiative aims to exploit the Kingdom’s mineral resources and increase the contribution of the mining sector to the national GDP.
