Saudi’s Ma’aden Announces Promising Gold and Copper Finds

Ma’aden, the largest mining company in the Arab world, reported multiple intercepts of recoverable gold and copper in the Shayban exploration area, specifically within Blocks 6 and 7. The results from the drilling indicate widespread mineralization of gold at Wadi Al Jaww and both gold and copper at Jabal Shayban. Because of these findings, Ma’aden’s exploration efforts are now viewed as crucial to the kingdom’s broader goals of economic diversification.

Positive results from the flagship Mansourah-Massarah mine in Ma’aden were also included in the announcement. According to high-grade results from recent drilling data that demonstrated outstanding gold mineralization, the area has the potential for significant long-term operations.
Bob Wilt, CEO of Ma’aden, emphasized the company’s large exploration expenditures and stressing that years of research and development have fully confirmed the kingdom’s mining industry’s raw prospectivity.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to reduce the nation’s dependency on oil revenue, sees mining as a critical component of its economic diversification strategy. The country is looking to expand its mining sector’s contribution to its GDP by over three times by 2030. In this context, Ma’aden plays a central role, not only in extracting valuable minerals but also in shaping the future of the kingdom’s mining industry.

Ma’aden wants to expand aggressively in addition to its local businesses. The company’s goals include expanding into the mining of strategic minerals and tenfold expanding its activities by 2040. It is anticipated that these minerals would support Saudi Arabia’s downstream industries’ expansion, promoting sustainable economic growth.
In 2023, Ma’aden entered into strategic partnerships with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to explore global mining opportunities.

Saudi Arabia is home to over 5,300 mining sites, valued at approximately $1.3 trillion. These mines hold a wealth of diverse minerals, including gold, silver, copper, zinc, phosphate, bauxite, and limestone. A 2022 study by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources confirmed the kingdom’s vast mineral potential.

As part of one of the world’s largest single-jurisdiction exploration programs, Ma’aden has conducted extensive exploration in the Arabian Shield. Jabal Shayban, in particular, has been a focal point for mineral discovery since the 1940s, though the recent Wadi Al Jaww find represents an exciting new opportunity, as it had never before been explored.Drilling is anticipated to continue until 2025, and the business is still in the early phases of fully comprehending the mineralized zone.

In December 2023, drilling operations at the Mansourah-Massarah mine produced high-grade gold deposits with a range of 10.4 to 20.6 grams per tonne (g/t).
These high-grade findings reaffirm the viability of an underground mining operation at the site. Future drilling will further explore the area’s potential and increase Ma’aden’s gold reserves. As of the end of 2023, Mansourah-Massarah boasted nearly 7 million ounces of gold resources, with an annual production capacity of 250,000 ounces. This is significant compared to some of the world’s largest gold mines, like Russia’s Sukhoi Log, which has reserves of 40 million ounces.

The largest oil producer in the world, Saudi Aramco, has signed a non-binding agreement with Ma’aden to establish a joint venture in the mining and exploration of minerals. This partnership aims to focus on minerals that are critical to the energy transition, such lithium, which is utilized in industries like electric vehicles and energy storage. The joint venture is essential to Saudi Arabia’s ability to meet its anticipated twenty-fold growth in lithium demand by 2030 and might begin commercial lithium production by 2027.

Aramco has already located areas in the kingdom with notable lithium quantities, up to 400 parts per million. There is no denying lithium’s contribution to the global energy revolution, especially as the need for renewable energy sources and electric vehicles (EVs) increases. By 2030, Saudi Arabia’s calculated investment in lithium may help produce almost 500,000 EV batteries and 110GW of renewable energy, demonstrating the kingdom’s dedication to economic diversification and actively participating in the worldwide transition to clean energy.

Through its collaborations, mining finds, and forward-thinking tactics, Ma’aden is putting itself at the forefront of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious goals to become a mining powerhouse on a worldwide scale. Ma’aden has the potential to secure both immediate and long-term prosperity by contributing to the kingdom’s economic transformation through sustained exploration, wise investments, and international partnerships.