Saudi Arabia recorded a 220 per cent year-on-year increase in new mining exploitation licences in 2025, issuing 61 permits, according to a statement from the Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry.
This reflects the attractiveness of the kingdom’s mining investment environment and the ministry’s ongoing efforts to accelerate the exploration and development of mineral resources, which are estimated to be worth more than SR9.4 trillion ($2.5trn), the ministry said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia has designated mining as the third pillar of its industrial economy, a strategy that has seen the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product double, reaching SR136 billion in 2024.
The industry has attracted over SR170bn in investments, while exploration spending has surged fivefold since 2020, exceeding SR1.05bn in 2024 alone.
Investor interest has skyrocketed, with the number of active exploration companies rising from just six in 2020 to 226 in 2024 – a 38-fold increase – and foreign investors now accounting for 66pc of total license bidders, reflecting strong international confidence in the kingdom’s mining potential.
Jarrah bin Mohammed Al Jarrah, the ministry’s official spokesperson, explained that the number of mining and small-mine exploitation licenses issued by the ministry in 2025 reached 61 licences, compared to 19 licences in the previous year, according to a report in Arab News.
He added: “Total investments in the new licensed projects exceed SR44bn for the extraction of high-quality mineral ores, including gold and phosphate.”
He noted that the number of valid mining exploitation licences in the kingdom reached 275 by the end of 2025, covering an area of 2,160sqkm.
He affirmed that the ministry will continue enabling mining investments and facilitating local and international investor participation to maximise sector returns in line with Saudi Vision 2030 targets, positioning mining as a key contributor to economic diversification.
The ministry’s release emphasised that this reflects the effectiveness of reforms implemented to strengthen the investment environment and regulate the mining sector.
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