The licensing round is open to local and international mining and exploration companies, comprises licences for five Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposits in historically underexplored areas.

 

The sites are:

• Muhaddad - copper, zinc, lead and gold. Covers 138.69 sq. km. within the Bisha belt in the Asir region in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

• Ar Radiniyah - zinc. Covers 75.86 sq. km. within the Alamar belt in the Riyadh region. 

• Umm Hadid - copper, zinc, lead and silver. Covers 246.35 sq. km. within the Nabetih belt in the Riyadh region.

• Bir Umq - copper and zinc. Covers 187.37 sq. km. within the Jabal Sayid belt in Al Madinah region.

• Jabal Sahabiyah - copper, zinc and lead. Covers 283.81 sq. km. within the As Shaib belt in the Asir region.

 

The licencing round for the five sites will begin with the pre-qualification stage, followed by a proposal stage where the qualified bidders will be invited to submit their best work program and social and environmental impact management plans.

 

The Ministry is planning to grant the Muhaddad and Ar Radiniyah licences by the end of the June quarter of 2023, and the Umm Haddid, Bir Umq, and Jabal Sahabiyah licences by the September quarter 2023. 

 

Data for the five sites is now available to applicants here. This includes all historical work conducted at the sites, as well as a pre-feasibility study for each site.

 

This approach "represents a significant step in the licensing process to create mining opportunities in Saudi Arabia more attractive to investors in alignment with the Kingdom's main objectives in the licensing round: transparency, compliance, and collaboration with mining sector players," the Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources said.

 

Saudi Arabia passed a new mining law in June 2020 to enable foreign investors easier access to the market. Since implementing the new law in January 2021, it has received more than 1,200 applications for exploration licences and has approved more than 300 of these applications, greater than the number of exploration licences issued in the previous 50 years. 

 

In the December quarter of 2022, the Kingdom launched a new category of greenfield exploration licences reserved for the highest bidder that submits "top-of-class" social and environmental plans. It has already granted two licences in this category: the Khnaiguiyah zinc-copper exploration licence, to a consortium of the UK's Moxico Resources and its Saudi partner Ajlan & Bros Mining; and the Umm Ad Damar zinc-copper-gold-silver exploration licence, to a consortium of Barrick Gold and Ma'aden. 

 

The new mining law offers numerous incentives to investors, including: co-funding of up to 75% of the CAPEX through the Saudi Industrial Development Fund; a five-year royalty holiday for miners; and discounts of up to 90% for to local downstream projects.

 

Interested bidders for the five sites are invited to submit a pre-qualification questionnaire which can be found on the following website.