Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 46 new mining licences in January 2023, according to the National Industrial and Mining Information Centre's report.

These include 14 building materials and quarry licences, 31 exploration licences, and one surplus mineral ore licence.

The number of valid mining licenses in the sector reached 2,230 by the end of January 2023. Building material and quarry licences took the lion's share at 1,331, followed by exploration licences (647), exploitation licences (178), reconnaissance licenses (42) and surplus mineral ore licenses (32).

In February, state-run SPA reported that the ministry issued 69 new mining licences in December 2022.

Earlier this month, the ministry announced the indicative timelines for the bidding cycle of five new mineral exploration opportunities showcased at the Future Minerals Forum 2023 in Riyadh.

The investment opportunities aim to exploit the mineral resources in the Kingdom and achieve the goals of Vision 2030 in raising the mining sector's contributions to the GDP to $64 billion in 2030. It strives to diversify the economic base in the Kingdom and for mining to be the third pillar of the national industry.

(Writing by D Madhura; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)