The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enjoys a plentiful and diversified reserve of mining potential whose value reaches some $1.3 trillion and a big reserve of underground gold with a volume of around 323.7 tons. As everywhere, even in Saudi Arabia gold is considered among the most important precious metals at the global level due to its connection with the International Monetary Unit and international trade. Gold is also used in precise electronic and electric industries, medical devices, and telecommunications and transport devices, such as engines of planes and spaceships. The production rate of gold has realized successive jumps since the launch of the Saudi Vision 2030 that focused on developing the mining sector, and it is expected for the sector in Saudi Arabia to grow further during the coming years. The growth is expected especially after allocating several locations of the mining reserve locations that will undergo exploration based on geological studies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. According to reports by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, there are big possibilities for having gold reserves in these locations. A recent decision by the Ministry approved allocating 12 locations for gold mining, where these locations are currently witnessing investment works by several local and international companies. According to official data, there are six factories producing gold and silver bars in Saudi Arabia with an investment volume exceeding SR7 billion. The Ministry has issued around 477 licenses for exploring gold and the number of permits issued for the gold sector totaled 15, some of which have started production while the other are still under development. The Kingdom has six gold mines whose total production volume in 2020 reached some 434,845 ounces, where Al-Dweihi Mine in Makkah, which is the biggest gold mine in Saudi Arabia, produced some 248,998 ounces in 2020. Al-Amar Mine in eastern Riyadh produced 31,968 ounces in 2020, while Balgha and Al-Skheirat mines in Madinah and Qassim respectively produced some 78,524 ounces in 2020. Mahd Al-Dahab Mine in Madinah, the oldest in Saudi Arabia, produced around 28,928 ounces of gold in 2020, while Al-Souq Mine in Makkah produced 20,928 ounces in 2020. This is in addition to Mansourah and Masarrah Mine Project, which is the latest projects under construction and includes two separate mines in Makkah to produce gold, and its annual average production is expected to stand at 250,000 ounces. — SPA
