RIYADH, 16 December 2003 — The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) signed two contracts worth SR57.326 million with two overseas firms — one for engineering consultancy for development of a gold mine at Al-Amar, and the other for feasibility studies on Al-Jalamid phosphate projects in the Northern Frontier Area.
The engineering procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract, valued at SR22.326 million, was signed with SNC Lavalin of Canada. It will be the first gold mine in the Riyadh region. On Sunday, the Maaden-Saudi Oger consortium signed a SR35 million contract with SNC Lavalin and the US firm Jacobs for a feasibility study on the Al-Jalamid Phosphate Project. The feasibility study is tipped for completion at the end of next year.
The phosphate project, which is of crucial importance to the fertilizer industry, will need an investment of SR4.5 billion.
At Al-Amar, Dr. Al-Dabbagh of Maaden said, the company confirmed the presence of viable ore concentrations estimated at seven grams of gold per ton. It reached the conclusion after exploration and drilling of over 50,000 meters at the site.
He said annual production was expected to reach 200,000 tons of gold ore.
The average annual production of precious metals was estimated to reach 1,100 tons of copper, 54,000 ounces of gold, 84,000 ounces of silver and 6,560 tons of zinc over the mine age, a likely seven years. The mine was expected to cost SR160 million. Maaden operates four gold mines out of a total of five in the Kingdom.
Dr. Al-Dabbagh said the Kingdom’s phosphate reserves were estimated at 3.1 billion tons, of which 1.6 billion tons was an estimated reserve and 1.5 billion tons a minable resource.