“Saudi Industry and Mineral Resources” organizes field visits to companies qualified to compete for mining sites

Riyadh, July 18, 2023 , SPA

The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources organized field visits to international and local companies qualified to obtain mining exploration licenses in its fourth round to the sites of “Umm Hadid, Amaq Well and Jabal Al-Sahaiba”; With the aim of enabling competitors to view the characteristics of these sites from a technical, geological and infrastructure point of view, before the stage of submitting offers and announcing the winners in the month of August. The official spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, Jarrah bin Muhammad Al-Jarrah, stated that these visits come within the framework of assessing the ability of interested companies to work in these sites, and knowing the potential needs for development and modernization in infrastructure and technologies used in mining exploration. It also aims to enhance cooperation between the ministry and companies. Desire to develop the mining sector in the Kingdom and promote investment in it. He stressed that the mining sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia succeeded in attracting many qualitative investments, and was able to attract new companies to the competition program for the first time, indicating that the exploration license competitions are complementary to the current licensing process that was developed according to the mining investment system in order to meet the goals of the Kingdom’s vision. 2030 and increasing spending on exploration operations in the Kingdom. And he indicated that the mineral sites that were visited are the site of the Amaq well located in the Medina region on an area of ​​187 square kilometers, and it contains ores of copper and zinc, in addition to the site of Umm Hadid located in the Riyadh region on an area of ​​246 square kilometers and contains ores of silver, lead and zinc. and copper, in addition to the Jabal Al-Sahaiba site, which is located in the Asir region on an area of 283 square kilometers and includes a number of zinc, lead and copper ores. This round is the fourth of the mining competitions for exploration licenses in the Kingdom. The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources confirmed that the field is still open for applying to the fifth round of mining competitions for exploration licenses on the two sites of Al-Namas and Al-Halahla, which are located in the Asir region and contain a number of mineral resources for copper and gold ores. It is expected that the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources will announce the winning companies in this competition during the month of August, as the qualified competitors in the next stage will have to present work programs and technical capacity, and prepare environmental and social impact plans that include employment rates and local purchase from the areas adjacent to these sites, including Contribute to the development of these areas and interact with local communities, in addition to plans for innovation and development in these sites. The launch of competitions for mining exploration licenses comes within the framework of the Kingdom’s efforts within the Accelerated Exploration Initiative announced by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and the Saudi Geological Survey earlier last year, aimed at exploiting the mineral resources in the Kingdom, and increasing the contribution of the mining sector to the gross domestic product. Contributes to strengthening the national economy and creating qualitative job opportunities for the nation’s sons and daughters.