Ministry of Industry launches pre-qualification phase for 5 exploration sites

Logo of Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources

The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources announced the launch of the pre-qualification stage for the tender of five metals exploration sites in the Kingdom.

The ministry invited local and international mining companies to participate and obtain an exploration license for these sites.

The exploration tenders are distributed among Muhaddad, located on the Bisha belt in Aseer province, covering 138.69 square kilometers (sqkm) and including copper, zinc, lead and gold. This is besides Al-Amar belt’s Ar Radainiyah site, Riyadh, which covers 75.86 sqkm and contains zinc, the ministry said in a statement.

Umm Hadid site is also on the list, covering 246.35 sqkm and including copper, zinc, lead and silver within Nabetah belt in Riyadh, alongside Jabal Sayid belt’s Bir Umq site in Madinah, which covers 187.37 sqkm and includes copper and zinc. This is in addition to Jabal Al-Sahaiba site, located within Al-Shayb belt in Aseer, extending over 283,810 sqkm and comprising copper, zinc and lead.

Bidding for the five sites will be over two stages of pre-qualification and presentation, in which qualified bidders will be invited to present the work program and social and environmental impact management plans, according to the ministry.

The ministry also indicated plans to complete the tendering processes for the five sites by the third quarter of 2023. The expected completion date for the exploration of Muhaddad and Ar Radainiyah sites is the second quarter of 2023, while the tendering for Umm Hadid, Bir Umq and Jabal Al-Sahaiba sites will end in the third quarter of 2023.