Jazan mine produces and ships ore after long wait

JAZAN: After 45 years, the mine of Al-Masan’e Al-Kubra Company in Jazan loaded the first ship with ore last week. The mine started operating last November.
The mining project in Najran went through many ups and downs and only started operations last year, even though the amount of ore discovered underground was tempting. The project was long awaited, as there had previously been no industry in the area. Saudi-owned Al-Masan’e Al-Kubra Company (AMAK) and the Arabian American Development Company (AADC) now operate the mine.
Nicholas Carter, CEO of AADC, said exploration of ore started in 1967 by the Arabian Shield Development, as it was then known. “We started exploration here in Saudi Arabia in 1967 and it took until the 1970s to actually get the permission for the exploration,” said Carter.
He said that he was working for Arabian American at that time.
With the help of Hatem Al-Khalidi, who worked for AMAK, the company borrowed $ 11 million in 1979 from the Saudi Ministry of Finance and they got permission to do the exploration in the area. AADC used the fund to hire geologists to drill holes, determine where the ore was and its quality, said Carter.
By 1985 they did a bankable feasibility study, which showed that the economics of production were adequate to actually build a mine, he added.
There was good mineral deposit to build the mine, but it took a number of years to get the license to produce the minerals. “We had the permission to explore and we put together the study. Still, it took until 1995 to actually get the license to produce the minerals,” he said.
In 1999 the company set up a joint venture put together with a few Saudi investors to develop the minerals and build the mine. But at that point of time mineral prices went down because of the Japanese economic crisis.
“They called off building the mine but in 2006 we got the current group together,” said Carter.
He added that Saudi investors provided the necessary cash and the AADC put in the lease and the facility. Together they started building the current AMAK facility.
Last week AMAK finally made its first sale and loaded the first ship with ore. AMAK is now exporting copper and zinc to smelters in South Korea and India. In Europe the economy is now so weak copper smelters won’t buy materials. Carter expected Europe, South Korea, India and probably China to end up as the mine’s major consumers.
“I think the quality of the product we make is very good, compared to international standards. This is not a big mine, there are much larger mines in Mexico and Chile,” he said.
“There is definitely a market for the Saudi Arabian materials as we are getting so many inquiries from outsider smelters. The future of the project is looking very bright.”
Carter said that the current mine life, considering AMAK’s facility and the amount of ore identified, should be 11 to 12 years.