The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 18 new mining licenses during the month of February 2023, which included: 9 licenses for quarrying building materials, 7 exploration licenses, one license for mining exploitation and a small mine, and one license for surplus mineral ores.
Today, Wednesday, the Ministry’s National Center for Industrial and Mining Information report stated that the number of mining licenses valid in the sector until the end of February 2023 amounted to 2,230 licenses, topped by a building materials quarry license with 1,327 licenses, a scavenging license with 653 licenses, and a mining and small-scale mine exploitation license. With 179 licenses, a reconnaissance license with 40 licenses, and a surplus mineral ores license with 31 licenses.
The report stated that the Riyadh region acquired the largest number of the total mining licenses in force in the sector with 512 licenses, followed by Makkah Al-Mukarramah region with 412 licenses.
The Eastern region came third with 372 permits, then the Madinah region with 245 permits, the Asir region with 188 permits, the Tabuk region with 140 permits, the Qassim region with 101 permits, the Hail region with 67 permits, the Jazan region with 65 permits, the Najran region with 45 permits, and the Al-Baha with 36 permits, the Northern Borders region with 26 permits, and Al-Jawf region with 21 permits.
The mining investment law and its executive regulations specified 6 types of mining licenses, including: a reconnaissance license, which includes all types of minerals for a period of two years that can be extended, and a license to explore all types of minerals for a period of 5 years for minerals of the two categories (A) and (B), and a license for the minerals category. (c) For a period of one year, a general purpose license linked to a mining or small mine license.
The system also specified exploitation licenses, which include: a mining license for minerals of two categories (A) and (B), whose license period does not exceed 30 years, subject to renewal or extension, and a license for a small mine for minerals of two categories (A) and (B), the duration of which is no more than More than 20 years, and the building materials quarry license is allocated to the category of minerals (C), for which the license period is up to 10 years, subject to extension. The system also includes a license for “surplus mineral ores in project sites or privately owned lands.”
The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources seeks to protect the mining sector and maximize its value in accordance with the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the National Industry Development and Logistics Program. To transform mining to become the third pillar of the national industry, and work to exploit the mineral resources in the Kingdom, which are spread in more than 5,300 sites, and their value is estimated at about 5 trillion riyals.
