RIYADH: Saudi Arabia announces seven new mining exploration licenses, which covers around 1,000 square kilometers. This initiative was launched by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources on August 7, and it seeks to encourage both local and global investors to explore these mineral-rich sites. The exploration sites are located in different regions, and they contain various valuable minerals such as gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, and cobalt.
Some of the sites include the Umm Qasr site in Riyadh which is rich in minerals like gold, silver, lead and zinc and the Jebel Sabha site in Riyadh which is rich in silver, lead, zinc and cobalt. There are gold, silver and copper deposits in the Wadi Doush site in the Asir region and Shuaib Marqan in Riyadh also has deposits of copper, silver and gold. The largest is in Wadi al-Jouna in Asir that covers an area of 425 square kilometers and contains deposits of copper, zinc, silver and gold. Other sites are Hazm Shubat in Asir which contains gold, and Huwaimdhan in Makkah which also contains gold.
This bid is under Saudi Arabia’s Exploration Enablement Program, which contributes to Vision 2030’s goal of transforming the mining sector to be among the Kingdom’s main driving forces. The country’s mineral wealth is believed to be worth of SR 9.3 trillion ($2.48 trillion).
Interested companies are required to submit their technical bids by the beginning of September 2024, and winners will be revealed by the end of the month. The evaluation will be transparent, with a major emphasis of 70% given to the technical expertise and the remaining 30% to the social contribution and innovation. New incentives such as financial support, foreign ownership allowance and financing options, fosters investment. All the information and reports are available at the ministry’s mining platform.
