Saudi Arabia announces five new mining exploration opportunities

Saudi Arabia has announced five new mining exploration opportunities, as it looks to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons.

The announcement reflects the kingdom’s focused efforts to accelerate mining exploration, as it looks to leverage an estimated $1.3tn worth of vastly underexplored metals and minerals to support its sustainable development goals and the clean energy transition, according to a report published by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The announcement was made by the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar bin Ibrahim AlKhorayef.

AlKhorayef said: “Following the launch of Vision 2030, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has been working to establish a world-class mining jurisdiction in support of transforming the mining sector into the third pillar of Saudi national industry. Critical to these efforts has been to ensure an investor-friendly environment that is underscored by transparency, ease of doing business and ESG compliance.”

Licenses for the five exploration sites, which contain significant deposits of copper, zinc, lead, iron, gold and silver, will be auctioned via a competitive bidding process in line with the new Mining Investment Law, which seeks to promote greater transparency across the sector. The ministry will release further details soon to investors on the application process, reported SPA.

The five new exploration sites are located within the rich mineral Arabian shield 0f Bir Umq, located in the Hijaz geological terrane; Ar Ridaniyah, located in the Al-Dawadmi geological terrane; Umm Hadid, located in the Afif geological terrane; Jabal Sahabiyah, located in the Asir geological terrane; and Jabal Idsas, located in the Ar Rayn geological terrane.

Following the launch of Vision 2030 in 2016, Saudi Arabia has attracted more mining investment than ever before. In 2021, the country attracted $8bn in FDI to the sector and issued 145 licenses. The kingdom is currently targeting new investments worth $32bn in mining and metals production across nine different projects.