The The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources announced the winning bidders in the fifth round of mining competitions for exploration licenses at six mining sites containing a number of base and precious metals, such as gold, silver, zinc, and copper, located in various regions of the Kingdom.
The official spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, Jarah bin Muhammad Al-Jarrah, explained that the fifth round concluded with Discovery Arabia Mining Company winning an exploration license for the “Al-Halahla” site, and that Major Mining Industries Company (AMAC) was awarded exploration licenses for the “Jabal Qarn” and “Al-Hijra” sites; the consortium of Iqlid Group and Indotan Mining Company was awarded the exploration license for the “Makman Hijab” site; and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) was awarded the exploration license for the “Al-Namas” site, while Royal Roads Arabia was awarded the exploration license for the “Al-Miyah” site.
He noted that this competition is the largest of its kind in the Kingdom, with the Ministry receiving 30 bids from 18 local and international companies, which were evaluated according to criteria focusing on technical expertise, proposed work programs, and social and environmental commitments. This round covered six sites, with a total area of 1,000 square kilometers.
Al-Jarrah confirmed that the total exploration expenditure proposed by the winning companies in the fifth round exceeds 136 million riyals, in addition to 15 million riyals, which the companies have committed to spending on the development of communities neighboring the mining sites and on creating job opportunities for Saudi nationals in less-developed regions.
The winning companies pledged to implement a range of community initiatives and technical projects at the sites. For instance, Discovery Arabia Mining, the winner of the “Al-Halahla” site in the Najran region, committed to spending more than 4.9 million riyals on exploration work in the first two years—including drilling approximately 2,000 meters—and approximately 20,000 meters in the following three years, in addition to committing to allocate approximately 1.87 million riyals for social development, including purchases from the local market, and to allocate 65% of direct and indirect jobs at the site to the sons and daughters of communities neighboring the Al-Halala site, which covers an area exceeding 34 square kilometers, which contains copper, zinc, and gold deposits.
AMAC has also committed to allocating more than 46 million riyals for engineering works at the “Jabal Qarn” in the Najran region, including drilling approximately 15,500 meters at the site, as well as allocating 3.5 million riyals for community initiatives, including 80% local procurement, as well as allocating approximately 20% of direct and indirect jobs at the site to young men and women from local communities adjacent to the site, which covers an area exceeding 46 square kilometers, which includes copper, gold, and lead deposits, in addition to allocating more than 46 million riyals for exploration work at the “Al-Hijra” site in the Asir region, including drilling approximately 43,000 meters, along with a commitment to allocate 8.5 million riyals for community initiatives, including 80% worth of purchases from the local market, as well as the creation of approximately 45% direct and indirect jobs for members of local communities adjacent to the site, which covers an area exceeding 274 square kilometers and contains deposits of gold, copper, and zinc.
Meanwhile, the consortium of “Iqlid Group and Indotan,” the winner of the exploration license for the “Hajab Deposit” site in the Riyadh region—which covers an area exceeding 180 square kilometers— which contains gold and silver ore deposits, to allocate more than 6.3 million riyals for exploration work, including drilling 10,000 meters at the site, as well as a commitment to allocate 200,000 riyals for community initiatives, including purchasing 90% from the local market.
At the “Al-Namas” site in the Asir region, which covers an area exceeding 228 square kilometers and contains deposits of copper, silver, and gold, Ma’aden has committed to allocating approximately 17.9 million riyals for exploration work, including drilling approximately 28,500 meters, and 1.35 million riyals for community initiatives, including the allocation of 10 to 15% for procurement from the local market, as well as the creation of approximately 25% in direct and indirect jobs for the sons and daughters of local communities neighboring the site.
“Royal Roads Arabia,” the winning bidder for the “Al-Miyah” site in the Makkah region, has committed to allocating 14.6 million riyals for exploration work at the site, including drilling approximately 11,600 meters, in addition to local procurement at a rate of 25%, as well as creating approximately 50% direct and indirect jobs for men and women from the local communities surrounding the site, which covers an area exceeding 228 square kilometers and contains deposits of copper, silver, and gold.
The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources confirmed that it is working to launch the sixth round of exploration license tenders during the third quarter of this year, which will see the offering of nine new exploration licenses; with the aim of encouraging further investment and enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in the development of this vital sector, and calling on investors interested in the upcoming round to review the nine sites that will be offered for competition and access the relevant geological data and reports via the Tadaamin platform at the following link: https://taadeen.sa/en/mining-bids .
This comes the mining tenders as part of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources“ efforts aimed at achieving the objectives of the comprehensive strategy for the mining and mineral processing sectors, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which aims to optimize the utilization of mineral wealth and make the mining sector the third pillar of the Kingdom’s national industry.
