Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has received two bids for the Umm Ad Damar exploration license in Madinah, according to a statement.
In line with Saudi Vision 2030, this comes as part of the ministry’s Accelerated Mining Initiative and National Industrial Development and Logistics Program, according to a statement.
The two offers were both submitted by alliances; the first from Saudi Arabian Mining Co., known as Ma’aden, and Barrick Gold, with the second from Abdul Rahman Saad Al-Rashid & Sons Co. and Gold and Minerals Co.
Located 300 kilometers northeast of Jeddah, Umm Ad Damar site spans over 40 km and includes copper, zinc, gold and lead.
Mining is increasingly a key element of Saudi Arabia’s economic development, after energy and petrochemicals, as the Kingdom seeks to wean its economy off oil production and exports.
Saudi Arabia is expecting its mineral wealth to exceed earlier estimates of $1.3 trillion as the Kingdom plans to triple spending on the exploration of metals over the next three years.
The value of the global mining market is expected to increase to $206 trillion in 2022 and to $335 trillion in 2026, up from $184 trillion in 2021, constituting a rise fueled by post-pandemic surge in commodity prices, MEED reported.