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(Updated: Details added about Gold and Minerals Company in the third paragraph)
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources announced on Thursday that it has received proposals from two international consortiums for Umm Ad Damar Exploration license.
The Ministry said in an Arabic language press statement that it has received proposals from the consortium of Barrick Gold T7 and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden), and from Abdul Rahman Saad Al-Rashed and Sons Company (ARTAR) and Gold and Minerals Company.
Gold and Minerals Company (GMCO) is a joint-venture formed in 2009 between ARTAR and London-listed KEFI Gold and Copper Plc, according to GMCO's website.
The Umm Ad Damar site, located 300 km northeast of Jeddah, covers an area of more than 40 square kilometres and includes copper, zinc, gold and silver deposits.
In August 2022, the Ministry had announced that 13 bidders were prequalified for the exploration project, which is the second licensing round.
In September 2022, UK-Saudi consortium of Moxico Resources and Ajlan & Bros Mining Company emerged as the winner of the first licensing round for Khnaiguiyah exploration license through a electronic multi-round auction.
(Writing by Eman Hamed; Editing by Anoop Menon)
