Saudi Arabia to Exploit Precious Minerals in Western Region

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The western region of Saudi Arabia is a region rich in precious minerals. There are gold mines in Mahd al-Dhahab and Sukhaybarat, and mines for copper, zinc, gold and silver in Jabal Sayid.

Mahd al-Dahab Mine is situated at an elevation of 1,060 meters above sea level in the western region of Saudi Arabia. The mine is about 380 kilometers northeast of Jeddah. In 2007, it mined and processed approximately 183,425 tons of ore at a grade of about 11.1 grams per ton of gold from underground operations.

The Jabal Sayid mine is owned by Citadel Resource Group's (ASX:CGG) (Sydney, Australia) Saudi joint venture company Bariq Mining Limited. The mine is 350 kilometers northeast of Jeddah and is connected to Jeddah and the Red Sea port of Yanbu by multi-lane highways. Citadel announced that the company has been granted an exploitation license for the Jabal Sayid copper and gold project. The exploitation license issued by the Deputy Ministry of Mineral Resources in Saudi Arabia, has a 30-year term and includes copper, zinc, gold, silver and other metals. Jabal Sayid has ore reserves of about 24.4 million tons, with about 2.2% copper.

Over 10 years, the project expects to produce 57,000 tons of copper concentrate per year. Production is planned to begin in the third quarter of 2011. The new mining law in Saudi Arabia allows foreign companies to work with Saudi's state run Saudi Arabian Mining Comapany (Ma'aden) or through joint ventures with local companies. Ma'aden is spending $16 billion to develop the kingdom's phosphate, bauxite, gold and industrial minerals.

Saudi Arabia produced 5.8 tons of gold in 2009 and imported 93.2 tons in the same year.

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