Saudi Arabia’s state-owned mining company Ma’aden has announced the discovery of “multiple intercepts of recoverable gold and copper grades” in exploratory sites at Wadi al Jaww and Jabl Shayban, in a note published on the Saudi stock market (Tadawul) on Wednesday.
In a separate note, it also revealed “strong gold mineralisation” beneath its flagship open pit mines of Mansourah and Massarah but said it “does not yet have enough information to estimate the size and quality of the mineralisation”.
The price of gold has risen by 1.07 percent to $2,686.69 per troy ounce in the last week as the dollar and US Treasury bills retreated in anticipation of announcements by the Federal Reserve on US interest rates.
The Saudi revelations coincided with the ongoing Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, established to promote a sector key to the Gulf state’s Vision 2030 programme.
Last year, officials announced the kingdom’s potential mineral wealth to be worth $2.5 trillion.
Speaking at the Future Minerals Forum on Wednesday, Bandar Alkhorayef, minister of industry and mineral resources, claimed that Saudi Arabia’s mining sector is now the fastest growing in the world.
The kingdom plans to offer auctions for exploration rights to a combined 50,000 sq km of land. It is expected to issue details of the auctions at some point during the conference, which ends on Thursday.
Speaking at the Future Minerals Forum, finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said that the mining sector needed better access to data to operate effectively.
He also stressed the need for a strong legislative framework that can “provide confidence and clarity to investors, to ensure attracting high-quality investments”.
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