Saudi Arabia awards new gold exploration licence

Reuters/Fahad Shadeed

Saudi Arabia’s ministry of industry and mineral resources has awarded a gold exploration licence to Almasane Alkobra Mining Company (Amak).

The licence, which is valid until May 19 2028, covers an area of 78 sq km in Najran province in the south of the country, the Saudi Exchange-listed mining firm said in a statement. 

The new concession area is situated next to the current Jabal Guyan gold mining licence, spanning an area of 10 sq km.

In 2022, Amak produced 21,190 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of copper, 41,151 dmt of zinc, 87,097 oz of silver, and 6,046 oz of gold from the Al Masane mine and 24,864 oz from Guyan mine, the company said in its most recent annual report.

In February Saudi Arabia invited local and international mining companies to bid for licences on five exploration sites across the kingdom.

Opportunities worth $32 billion are on offer, said Khalid Al Mudaifer, vice minister for mining affairs.

The Saudi government expects unused mineral resources worth about $1.3 trillion, with vast quantities of aluminium, phosphate, gold, copper and uranium.

The British government agreed in January to deepen its collaboration with Saudi Arabia on diversifying sources of critical minerals.