Global provider of geochemical laboratory services for the exploration and mining industries, MSALABS, recently signed in October 2021 a Heads of Terms with Modern Mining Testing Company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia “which will seek to establish a major hub laboratory in the region for the analysis of mining samples from within Saudi Arabia and other international jurisdictions.” The lab is set to be established in Riyadh and will support Saudi Arabian mining and exploration companies as well as East African and Central Asian operations. The development is indicative of the momentum in Saudi’s mining sector, which was also highlighted at the Future Minerals Forum event last week, attended by IM.
The news was referenced in a FY 2021 trading update by Capital Drilling, which owns MSALABS, which is headquartered in Langley, BC in Canada. MSALABS analytical services are cited as being suitable from greenfields exploration through to production and include sample preparation, a complete range of analytical techniques and construction and management of on-site laboratories at minesites. Modern Mining Testing is part of Saudi company Modern Industrial Investment Holding Group, which is headquartered in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead with a major push to scale up its mining industry. On the exploration side, this has been moved completely from paper-based to a digital platform. The Vice-Minister of Mining Affairs for the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources of the Kingdom Saudi Arabia, His Excellency Khalid Al-Mudaifer recently told IM: “We have gathered all the existing geological and exploration information we have from the last 80 years and combined it in a new national database called the National Geological Database and spearheaded by the Saudi Geological Survey. Information is now easily accessible from anywhere. All of this is a necessary prerequisite to increase the rate of development of our mining and minerals industry.”
The Kingdom is highly prospective for a number of minerals and metals, including iron ore, gold, lead/zinc, nickel, cobalt, copper as well as a range of industrial minerals. A number of deposits have also already been identified and have the potential to be fast-tracked into production.
