Saudi copper mine starts commercial production

03 July 2016

Delayed start-up for Maaden Barrick Copper Company operation

Maaden Barrick Copper Company (MBCC) has started commercial production at the Jabal Sayid copper mine in Saudi Arabia, according to its joint owner Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden).

The operation is expected to produce an average of 45,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of copper concentrate. Jabal Sayid, which is located 120 kilometres southeast of Mecca, has a mine life of about 16 years, with estimated reserves of about 635,000 tonnes of copper.

The main deal for the project was awarded to Canada’s SNC Lavalin in 2010.

MBCC is a 50:50 joint venture of Maaden and US-based Barrick Gold Corporation. Maaden, which bought into the company in July 2014 for $210m, announced in April that the start-up of the operation had been pushed back from the first quarter of 2016.

According to Barrick Gold Corporation, the mine is expected to ramp up its production rate in the second half of 2017 as additional underground development is completed.

Unlike the kingdom’s smaller GCC neighbours, Saudi Arabia has a large wealth of mineral resources that it is integrating into downstream industries such as aluminium and fertiliser production.

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