Saudi Arabia launches bids for seven mining exploration licences

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Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, has opened the bidding for seven new mining exploration licenses, covering an area of approximately 1,000 sq km, reported SPA.

These exploration sites are rich in valuable minerals and have big deposits of gold, silver, lead, and zinc.

The move is part of the ministry's Accelerated Exploration Program initiative, which aims to expedite the exploration and development of the kingdom's estimated SAR9.3 trillion ($2.47 trillion) worth of mineral resources, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 objective of making the mining sector the third pillar of the national industry.

According to the Ministry, the seven sites for which it will grant exploration licenses contain a variety of precious and base metals; among them are Umm Qasir, in the Riyadh region, with gold, silver, lead, and zinc deposits spread over 20 sq km and Jabal Sabha, in Riyadh, with silver, lead, zinc, and cobalt reserves spread over 171 sq km.

In Aseer, Wadi Ad Dawsh contains gold, silver, and copper deposits in an area of 157.7 sq km. Shaib Marqan in Riyadh spans 92 sq km and holds gold, silver, and copper.

Wadi Al Junah in Aseer extends over 425.37 sq km and is a source of copper, silver, zinc and gold.

Hazm Shubat, also in Aseer, covers 93.47 sq km and contains gold, while Huwaymidan in Makkah, encompasses 34 sq km and contains gold.

The Ministry has set early September as the final deadline for submitting proposals for the exploration license bids.

A transparent and fair evaluation process will assess factors such as work programs, technical capabilities, social impact plans, and innovative initiatives, with 70% weight on technical aspects and 30% on community contributions, said the SPA report.

To support exploration, the Ministry has introduced new incentives, in collaboration with the Saudi Investment Ministry, including up to SAR7.5 million in funding for companies having exploration licences less than five years old, in addition to the existing mining investment incentives like 100% foreign ownership and up to 75% capital expenditure financing, it added.