The Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar bin Ibrahim AlKhorayef, today announced five new mining exploration opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ahead of the ministry's participation in the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC), which will be hosted in Sydney, Australia from 2 – 4 November 2022. 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 five new explorations sites are located within the rich mineral Arabian shield:Bir Umq, located in the Hijaz geological terrane, with more than 187 sq. km exploration area, and includes the following commodities: copper and zinc. Ar Ridaniyah, located in the Al-Dawadmi geological terrane, with more than 78 sq. km exploration area and includes zinc ore deposits as well as more than 16 MODs discovered. Umm Hadid, located in the Afif geological terrane, with more than 246 sq. km exploration area and includes a significant deposit of silver, lead, Zinc and Copper. Jabal Sahabiyah, located in the Asir geological terrane, with more than 283 sq. km exploration area and includes the following commodities zinc, Lead, Copper and Iron. Jabal Idsas, located in the Ar Rayn geological terrane, with more than 121 sq. km exploration area with rich deposits of iron ore. The ministry will release further details soon to investors on the application process. The announcement comes as part of the Kingdom's efforts to accelerate mining exploration as it looks to leverage an estimated $1.3 trillion worth of vastly underexplored metals and minerals in support of sustainable development goals and the clean energy transition. "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," said Bandar bin Ibrahim AlKhorayef. Since the transformation of Saudi Arabia's mining ecosystem, which began following the launch of Vision 2030 in 2016, Saudi Arabia has attracted more mining investment than ever before. In 2021, the country attracted $8 billion in FDI to the sector and issued 145 licenses. Moreover, it is currently targeting new investments worth $32 billion in mining and metals production across nine different projects.
