Ministry of Industry issues 1,795 mining licenses until September

Logo of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 1,795 mining licenses until September 2021.

In a statement, the ministry indicated that these licenses included 1,041 licenses for building materials quarries, 22 detection licenses, 563 exploration licenses, and 169 licenses for mining and small-scale mining.

The growth in the number of licenses underscores the positive restructuring of the industry investment climate due to the new Mining Investment Law.

In September, the ministry issued 41 new licenses, including 34 licenses for building materials quarries and seven metals exploration licenses.

The ministry also received 559 new licensing applications over the first nine months of 2021, of which 326 requests are still subject to the approval of the competent authorities. Meanwhile, the ministry issued 396 licenses, including 133 exploration licenses, 241 licenses for building materials quarries, and 22 detection licenses.

In addition, the ministry carried out 2,617 inspection tours in the mining sites over the nine-month period, of which 506 sites were proved non-compliant.

In September, 481 inspection tours were carried out and 136 sites were found incompliant to the environmental, health and safety regulations.