Saudi Arabia grants licences for first mineral sites

Saudi Arabia has awarded the first exploration licences for mineralised belts at Jabal Sayid, northeast of Jeddah, and Al-Hijar in the south of the kingdom.

The two sites, covering a total of 4,788 sq km, will speed up the exploration of mineral resources with an estimated worth of SAR9 trillion ($2.4 trillion), the ministry said in a post on the social messaging platform X.

The first and second exploration licences for the Jabal Sayid site were awarded to the Indian miner Vedanta and a consortium of the local company Ajlan & Bros and Zijin Mining of China.

Norin Ajlan & Brothers Mining Company won the exploration licence for Al-Hijar south, while a consortium of Artar Gold & Minerals and Jacaranda Consortium won the licence for the northern Al-Hijar site.

In January the ministry allocated mineral exploration rights for six mining sites with a combined size of 890 sq km.

Saudi Arabia plans to launch an auction to explore a further 50,000 sq km.  

• Ma’aden to invest billions after profit surge
• Saudi Arabia turns to recycling to enhance mineral recovery
• Canada’s Barrick seeks to tap $2trn of Saudi minerals

The Saudi minister of industry and mineral resources, Bandar Alkhorayef, speaking at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh,said that the world needs to invest $6 trillion in the industry over the next 10 years.

Separately, the ministry said that the kingdom had issued 2,401 mining licences by the end of 2024, which cover mining, exploration, reconnaissance, building materials quarries, and small mine operations.

The majority of these licences were granted for building materials quarries, followed by exploration, mining and small mining exploitation, reconnaissance, and surplus mineral ore extraction, the state-run news agency SPA reported.