Industry Ministry: 24 firms, consortia win exploration licenses for 172 sites

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources announced today, Dec. 31, that 24 local and international companies and consortia have won exploration licenses for 172 mining sites. Of these, 76 sites proceeded to a multi-round public auction phase.

According to a ministerial statement, the sites are distributed across three mineralized belts in Riyadh, Madinah, and Qassim, with total exploration spending exceeding SAR 671 million committed for exploration in the first two years.

The mining tender, deemed the largest in the Kingdom’s history, aims to accelerate the exploitation of more than SAR 9.4 trillion in estimated mineral wealth, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 goals that seek aims to position the mining sector as the third pillar of the Saudi national industry.

It covers an area exceeding 24,000 square kilometers, spreading across the Al-Duwaihi/Nabita gold belt in Riyadh, and the Nuqrah and Sukhaybirah/Al-Safra gold belts in Madinah and Qassim. These areas are rich in strategic minerals, including gold, copper, silver, zinc, and nickel.

The tender attracted strong interest from leading local and international companies, reflecting growing confidence in the Kingdom’s mining investment environment and its regional and global appeal.

Winners of the exploration licenses included Discovery Arabian Mining Co., The Distinguished Consortium Mining Co., Arabian Gazelle Mining Co., Al-Masar Minerals Holding Co. Ltd., Al-Tasneem Projects Co. Ltd., Desert EX Pty Ltd., Iqlid Indotan Mining Co., Helderberg Co., Ma’aden Barrick Second Co. Ltd., Ma’aden Ivanhoe Electric Exploration and Development Co. Ltd., Rawafed Al-Oula Mining Co., Royal Roads Arabia, Saudi Gold Refinery Co. Ltd., Sierra Nevada Gold Inc., Arabian Gulf Skylark, Subsurface Gold Co., Brunswick Exploration Incorporated, and Aurum Global Group.

Several new consortiums were also on the list, namely: A consortium of Demir Engineering Ltd., Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd., and Kaz United Mining LLC; a consortium of KENZ Global Resources Ltd., Manahil Al-Sharq Mining, and Al-Rayan Mining Resources; a consortium of Tech Experts Co. and Andiamo Exploration; a consortium of Ajlan & Bros Mining with Shandong Gold and Shandong Industrial Investment; a consortium of Midana Exploration and the Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden); and a consortium of McEwen Mining Inc. and Sumou Holding Co.

The ministry explained that the tender saw the participation of 26 qualified bidders through the electronic bidding platform, who went through several stages that adhered to the highest levels of transparency, starting with pre-qualification, followed by site selection, and culminating in a multi-round public auction for sites contested by more than one bidder.

It noted that the scale of investment commitments in this round strengthens efforts to develop underexplored greenfield areas and supports the utilization of the Kingdom’s mineral wealth, enhancing the resilience of mineral supply chains.

Regarding future opportunities, the ministry stated that it will continue tendering exploration licenses for mining sites covering a total area of 13,000 square kilometers in Madinah, Makkah, Riyadh, Qassim, and Hail, in addition to new sites extending the mineralized belts offered in the previous tender. Interested parties can review details of mining tenders through the state-run Taadeen platform.

The ministry also confirmed that it will announce additional exploration and investment opportunities for 2026 during the fifth edition of the Future Minerals Forum, to be held in Riyadh from Jan. 13 to 15, 2026.