Top 10 Mining Companies in Saudi Arabia Compared

Top 10 mining companies in Saudi Arabia compared

Ma’aden, the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Tadawul: 1211), is the largest of the mining companies in Saudi Arabia. It reported revenue of SAR 38.6 billion (US$10.3 billion) and 478,000 ounces of gold production for 2025 (Maaden Integrated Report 2025). Behind it come the Jabal Sayid copper mine, AMAK, a gold developer called GMCO, and a growing group of foreign explorers. The table ranks the two producers that publish revenue and lists eight more companies without a rank, and the sections after it show who runs which mine, who holds new exploration licences and how to check any figure yourself.

Most figures come from a company filing, a stock-exchange announcement or a ministry release. Row 3 uses a Barrick filing, row 4 news reports (Arab News, Global Gypsum), row 6 the Ivanhoe Electric website and row 8 a market-news site.

How the ten are ordered

Lists of Saudi mining firms often mix miners, contractors, cement makers and investment vehicles, and some show tonnages that cannot be matched to a filing. This page uses one metric and says where it stops.

• The metric is 2025 revenue. Only Ma’aden (SAR 38.6 billion) and AMAK (SAR 1.03 billion) publish it, so only they are ranked, 1 and 2.
• Other producers are unranked. Jabal Sayid publishes copper output for Barrick’s 50% share, and United Mining Industries has a takeover price (SAR 798 million for 100%); neither is revenue, so neither is placed against AMAK.
• Developers and explorers are unranked. GMCO is listed with its planned capital. The five explorers are Round 9 winners with the clearest public profile, shown in no order; the full winner list of 24 is further down.
• Gypsum counts, cement does not. United Mining Industries quarries and processes gypsum and has mining in its name and licensing, so it is listed; cement and fertiliser makers are covered in the FAQ as industry. Ma’aden’s investment vehicle Manara Minerals sits outside the table because its main holding is abroad.

Four of the ten rows are Ma’aden or Ma’aden joint ventures (rows 1, 3, 6 and 7), which reflects how much of Saudi mining runs through one group.

Company profiles: best for, strengths and watch points

1. Ma’aden (Saudi Arabian Mining Company)

Best for: investors and suppliers who want one listed company with audited accounts across gold, phosphate and aluminium.

Ma’aden is 63.78% owned by the Public Investment Fund and runs 13 mines and sites, according to its 2025 report. Phosphates made 54% of 2025 revenue, aluminium 28% and base metals and new minerals 16%. Revenue rose 19% to SAR 38.6 billion, EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) rose 30% to SAR 16.2 billion, and net profit attributable to shareholders rose 156% to SAR 7.3 billion (Maaden Integrated Report 2025). In 2025 it also bought out Alcoa’s 25.1% stakes in its aluminium and bauxite companies and acquired a 20.62% stake in Aluminium Bahrain (Alba).

Strengths: audited and listed, several commodities, an exploration programme it describes as the world’s largest greenfield programme in a single country. Watch points: phosphate and aluminium prices drive most revenue, gold production slipped 4% in 2025, and the 2025 profit includes a one-off SAR 768 million bargain purchase gain tied to Alba.

2. AMAK (Al Masane Al Kobra Mining Company)

Best for: investors who want a smaller listed Saudi miner with zinc, copper, gold and silver.

AMAK reported 2025 revenue of SAR 1,026 million, up 31%, and net income of SAR 280.6 million, up 58% (Argaam, AMAK results for 2025). Its website gives normal-year ranges of 25,000 to 35,000 tonnes of copper concentrate, 60,000 to 80,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate, 30,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold and more than 500,000 ounces of silver (AMAK). The USGS recorded gold from two sites in 2022: 188 kg at the Al Masane mine and 774 kg at the Guyan mine (USGS Minerals Yearbook, Saudi Arabia).

Strengths: profit growth in 2025 and a mix of base and precious metals. Watch points: revenue follows zinc, copper and gold prices, and the company is a fraction of Ma’aden’s size.

3. Ma’aden Barrick Copper Company (Jabal Sayid)

Best for: readers who want Saudi copper exposure through a joint venture with a global major.

The Jabal Sayid mine is run by a joint venture of Ma’aden and Barrick; production began in 2016 and the plant makes copper concentrate for export (Ma’aden Annual Report 2023). Barrick’s 50% share produced 32,000 tonnes of copper in 2025 and in 2024, at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC, the full cost of keeping the mine running) of US$1.46 per pound in 2025. Barrick guides to 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes for 2026 (Barrick MD&A, fourth quarter 2025).

Strengths: a low-cost operation and a published, comparable output figure. Watch points: the guided output for 2026 is lower than 2025, and the rare-earth find nearby (below) is a resource, not a mine plan.

4. United Mining Industries (Knauf)

Best for: readers following industrial minerals and building materials rather than metals.

United Mining Industries is a producer of gypsum products in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf, listed on the Nomu parallel market (Global Gypsum). Germany’s Knauf bought 63.2% in May 2026 for SAR 504.5 million and then offered SAR 57 a share for the rest, about SAR 293.5 million, which brings the total to roughly SAR 798 million (US$213 million). The offer runs from 27 September to 4 November, with completion expected to be announced on 19 November (Arab News, 28 September 2026).

Strengths: a deal with a named foreign strategic owner. Watch points: it is closer to a building-materials manufacturer than a metal miner, and delisting would end its public filings.

5. Gold and Minerals Company (GMCO): KEFI and ARTAR

Best for: readers tracking the next Saudi gold mine to be built.

GMCO is a Saudi joint venture in which the industrial group ARTAR holds 87% and the London-listed KEFI Gold and Copper (AIM: KEFI) holds 13%. On 27 October 2026 its board conditionally approved about US$87 million for stage 1 of the Jibal Qutman gold project, an oxide-ore carbon-in-leach operation planned for seven years and about 258,000 ounces of recovered gold. Start of work depends on a mining licence from the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, and GMCO’s Saudi resources total about 4.0 million ounces of gold equivalent (ADVFN market news, 27 October 2026). KEFI’s own update of 4 August 2026 sets out the build order: Jibal Qutman stage 1, then Hawiah stage 1, then sulphide ore (KEFI RNS, 4 August 2026).

Strengths: a defined first mine with costed capital. Watch points: the licence is still outstanding, no output exists yet, and the project’s net present value (NPV) was modelled at gold prices of US$3,000 to US$5,000 an ounce.

6. Maaden Ivanhoe Electric Exploration and Development

Best for: readers interested in technology-led exploration.

Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE American and TSX: IE) runs a 50/50 joint venture with Ma’aden whose 2023 exploration area covers about 48,500 km² of the Arabian Shield with its Typhoon geophysical survey system (Ivanhoe Electric). Ma’aden bought a 9.9% stake in Ivanhoe Electric for US$126.4 million in 2023, and the joint venture is on the ministry’s list of Round 9 winners. Watch points: exploration spending is certain, discoveries are not.

7. Ma’aden and Hancock Prospecting

Best for: readers following Australian capital in Saudi exploration.

In December 2025 Ma’aden formed an exploration joint venture with Australia’s Hancock Prospecting after signing binding heads of terms in November; Ma’aden holds 50.1%. Ma’aden also bid for Round 9 sites in an alliance with Barrick, Ivanhoe Electric and Hancock Prospecting (Integrated Report 2025). Watch points: the venture is new, with no resource published yet.

8. Sierra Nevada Gold (ASX: SNX)

Best for: readers who want a pure-play listed explorer in Saudi Arabia.

Sierra Nevada Gold is a Round 9 licence winner and reports on its As Safra copper-gold project in Saudi Arabia (Discovery Alert, 1 February 2026). The Sukhaybirah/As-Safra belt was one of three offered in Round 9 (Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources). Watch points: as an explorer it has no mine revenue, so results depend on drilling.

9. Other Round 9 winners: McEwen Mining with Sumou Holding, and Shandong Gold units with Ajlan & Bros

Best for: tracking which international miners and partnerships have entered the Kingdom.

The ministry names both consortia among the Round 9 winners: McEwen Mining with Sumou Holding Company, and Shandong Gold units with Ajlan & Bros Company for Mining. The ministry reports one combined commitment for all 24 winners, SAR 671 million over the first two years, rather than a figure per winner.

Other names worth knowing

Manara Minerals, a Ma’aden (51%) and Public Investment Fund joint company, bought 10% of Vale Base Metals in 2024 (Integrated Report 2025). The drilling contractor Saudi Canadian Mining Services lists work at the Al Baitha bauxite mine and the Sukhaybarat and Bulgah gold mines on its project page (SCMS), which makes it a service company rather than a mine owner.

Who runs which mine in Saudi Arabia

Ma’aden operates the large majority of Saudi mines, its gold mines through the wholly owned subsidiary Maaden Gold and Base Metals Company. Its report names 13 principal mining sites: Mansourah-Massarah, Ar Rjum, Mahd Ad Dhahab, Bulghah, Al Amar, Sukhaybarat, As Suq, Ad Duwayhi, Al Jalamid, Al Khabra, Az Zabirah, Al Ghazalah and Al Baitha. Together they produce gold, phosphate rock, bauxite, kaolin and magnesite. Ar Rjum is still being built, As Suq has run out of reserves and is being closed, and Jabal Sayid and AMAK’s mines sit outside the list.

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Saudi gold output by mine

Kilograms of gold mined in 2022, the latest year the USGS compiled by mine

The USGS last compiled gold by mine for 2022. In that year Saudi Arabia mined 11,386 kg of gold, down from 12,413 kg in 2021, and Ad Duwayhi alone produced 5,437 kg (USGS Minerals Yearbook, Saudi Arabia, 2022). Mansourah-Massarah was then at 373 kg and has been ramping up since. Al Jalamid is one of the phosphate mines; our note on Al Jalamid and its mining company gives more on the area.

For the geology behind these gold belts, see our guide to the Saudi Geological Survey, gold deposits and data.

Jabal Sayid: a copper mine and a rare-earth discovery

Jabal Sayid has two stories. The first is the copper mine described above. The second is a resource announced in September 2026 by Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman: about 114 million tonnes of material in the Madinah Region with high concentrations of heavy and light rare earth elements and some uranium. The first figure given was 110 million tonnes and was later revised to 114 million. An analysis cited by Arab News says the site could rank fourth in the world, with an estimated 552,000 tonnes of heavy rare earths and 355,000 tonnes of light rare earths (Arab News, 10 October 2026).

Rare earths are a group of 17 elements used in magnets and electronics. Tonnage alone does not make a mine: grade, the type of mineral and how much metal can be recovered economically decide that, and drilling, metallurgical testing and pilot work come first. Ma’aden and MP Materials signed a binding term sheet in November 2025 to build a rare-earth refining and separation plant in the Kingdom, with Ma’aden holding at least 51%.

Ma’aden’s results: revenue, EBITDA and profit

Ma’aden’s 2025 numbers show how much commodity prices matter. The average realised gold price rose to US$3,511 an ounce from US$2,400, while the group’s AISC for gold was US$1,291 an ounce. Sales of DAP, the main phosphate fertiliser, reached 6.7 million tonnes against 6.2 million the year before. The same report shows gold production 4% below 2024.

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Ma’aden results, 2024 versus 2025

SAR billion; net profit is attributable to shareholders

The USGS puts Saudi phosphate rock output at an estimated 10 million tonnes in 2025, about 4% of the world’s 250 million tonnes (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, phosphate rock). That is why phosphates, not gold, still carry more than half of Ma’aden’s revenue.

Gold production and projects: what Ma’aden is building

Ma’aden’s gold output rose from 335,000 ounces in 2022 to a peak of 495,000 in 2024 and slipped to 478,000 in 2025. The next step is Ar Rjum, an open-pit mine with an 8 million tonne a year plant, which received a final investment decision in August 2025 and is expected to add about 321,000 ounces a year, with first production in late 2028. The business review describes three gold clusters planned to produce 500,000, 250,000 and 500,000 ounces a year, a target of 3 million ounces a year by 2040, and 7.8 million ounces of gold resources announced in January 2026 across four areas (Integrated Report 2025).

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Planned gold output by cluster

Thousand ounces a year, Ma’aden’s projected figures; MM = Mansourah-Massarah, NAGR is Ma’aden’s label

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Ma’aden gold production

Thousand ounces a year, 2022 to 2025

The company is also lining up partners. It signed heads of terms with Saudi Aramco for a minerals exploration and mining joint venture, formed the Hancock Prospecting venture, and keeps its Barrick and Ivanhoe Electric ties. Some of its 2040 numbers are plans rather than reserves, so treat them as targets.

The calculator below turns a gold output, price and cost into an annual margin so you can test those plans with your own inputs. For context on gold supply, the World Gold Council reports China as the largest producer in 2025 with around 10% of global output (World Gold Council).

Who holds exploration licences: Rounds 9 and 10

New mining companies enter Saudi Arabia through the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources’ licensing rounds, run on the Taadeen platform. Round 9, announced on 31 December 2025, was the largest so far: 24 companies and consortia won 172 sites across more than 24,000 km², including 76 sites that went to a multi-round public auction, with SAR 671 million committed in the first two years. The three belts were Ad-Duwaihi/Nabitah in Riyadh Region, and Nuqrah and Sukhaybirah/As-Safra in Madinah and Qassim (Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources).

The Round 9 winners were Desert EX, Batin Alard for Gold, Royal Roads Arabia, Sierra Nevada Gold, Aurum Global Group, Brunswick Exploration, EQLEED-INDOTAN Mining, Helderberg, Rawafed Alola for Mining, Saudi Gold Refinery, Arabian Discovery Mining, Al Ghazal Al Arabi Mining, Almasar Minerals Holding, Al Tasnim Enterprises, Arabian Gulf Skylark, and these nine consortia: The Distinguished Consortium Mining Company; Maaden Ivanhoe Electric Exploration and Development; Maaden Barrick Two Limited Company; Demir Engineering with Dahrouge Geological Consulting and Kaz United Mining; KENZ Global Resources with Manahil Al Sharq Mining and Al Rayyan Mining Resources; Technology Experts Co. with Andiamo Exploration; Shandong Gold units with Ajlan & Bros; Midana Exploration with Ma’aden; and McEwen Mining with Sumou Holding.

Round 10 covers about 13,000 km² of three multi-mineral belts across Madinah, Makkah, Riyadh, Al Qassim and Hail. In June 2026 the ministry qualified 24 bidders for it, including seven new entrants such as Power Metallic Mines, PT Antam and Danakali (Arab News, 9 June 2026). The process has three stages: prequalification on technical and financial strength, site selection, and a public bid in which companies compete on exploration spending and technical criteria.

Mining in the wider Saudi economy

The Ministry values the Kingdom’s mineral wealth at SAR 9.4 trillion (about US$2.5 trillion) and describes mining as the third pillar of national industry under Vision 2030. The USGS put the nonfuel mining sector at about 0.3% of GDP in 2022, while crude oil and natural gas contributed about 37% (USGS Minerals Yearbook, Saudi Arabia). The gap between the estimated endowment and today’s share of output is the reason for the licensing rounds above.

The USGS counted 22 cement plants in 2022, with 52.4 million tonnes of cement produced. Cement is quarried and processed rather than mined for metal, which is why cement firms do not appear in the table. Ma’aden pays the government a severance fee under the Mining Investment Law that took effect in 2021.

Environment and mine closure: what Ma’aden reports

Ma’aden’s report gives Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions of 14.66 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025, against 14.55 million in 2024, and a net-zero ambition for 2050. It says it plans closure from the start of each mine, with progressive rehabilitation, and that it has begun working toward the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management for its waste dams. A “Tailings to Earnings” programme recovers gold from legacy waste at old mines, and it is installing a repellent system at gold sites to keep wildlife from cyanide-bearing water. These are company-reported facts, so check the regulator’s records for site-level compliance. For lessons on closure, our piece on the Argyle mine shows how long planning for the end of a mine can take.

▶ The seven environmental impacts of mining, explained with satellite maps and photos. · 2:31

Middle East comparison: Jordan, the UAE and Bahrain

Saudi Arabia is home to the Gulf’s largest mining company, Ma’aden. In Jordan the main producers are Arab Potash Company and Jordan Phosphate Mines Company; in 2019 the latter exported 5.0 million tonnes of phosphate rock and Arab Potash exported more than 2.1 million tonnes of potash (USGS Minerals Yearbook, Jordan). The UAE is a processing and cement country: its main metal producer is Emirates Global Aluminium, which made 2.57 million tonnes of aluminium in 2019, and it had more than 20 cement operations (USGS Minerals Yearbook, UAE). Bahrain’s Alba smelter ties back to Saudi mining, because Ma’aden bought 20.62% of it in 2025. Our overview of potash and other mining technology covers related operations.

How to check a Saudi mining company yourself

A reliable company shows the same figure in several places. Use this order of checks.

• Listed on Tadawul (Ma’aden 1211, AMAK 1322): read the annual report and the quarterly Tadawul announcements; compare revenue and production with the press release.
• Listed abroad (KEFI on AIM, Sierra Nevada Gold on ASX, Ivanhoe Electric and Barrick in North America): read the regulatory announcements, and check that a “resource” is labelled as inferred, indicated or measured.
• Licences: the ministry’s round results and the Taadeen platform show who holds exploration ground.
• Government data: the USGS yearbook gives independent country totals, usually a year or two behind.
• Safety, closure and community records: look for tailings, water and rehabilitation reporting in the annual report.

Satellite imagery fits the first stage of this work. Round 9 offered more than 24,000 km² and Round 10 about 13,000 km², and bidders commit money per site, so screening alteration and structures before bidding helps rank the sites worth the spend. Farmonaut delivers satellite mineral-detection reports from a boundary file in 5 to 20 business days; they are exploration targets, not a resource estimate. Mine operators also use satellite tools for monitoring: see our pages on carbon footprint tracking, fleet management and product traceability.

▶ Remote sensing for mining explained in three minutes: the instrument families that map rock from space. · 2:01

Related guides on this site

• Phosphate mining innovations at Phosphate Hill, useful for the Ma’aden phosphate business
• Zinc and copper uses, for the metals AMAK sells
• Seven mining technology innovations
• Iron ore mining innovations
• Mica mining trends, an industrial mineral example

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest mining company in Saudi Arabia?

Ma’aden, the Saudi Arabian Mining Company, is the largest. It reported SAR 38.6 billion of revenue and SAR 7.3 billion of net profit attributable to shareholders for 2025, with the Public Investment Fund owning 63.78% (Integrated Report 2025).

Which mining companies in KSA are listed on the stock exchange?

Ma’aden (Tadawul: 1211) and AMAK (Tadawul: 1322) are the main listed mine operators. United Mining Industries trades on the Nomu parallel market, and foreign explorers such as Sierra Nevada Gold (ASX) and KEFI (AIM) list abroad. This is information only, not investment advice.

How much gold does Saudi Arabia produce?

Saudi Arabia mined 11,386 kg of gold in 2022, about 366,000 ounces, the latest national total the USGS has compiled (USGS Minerals Yearbook). Ma’aden alone produced 478,000 ounces, about 14,900 kg, in 2025 (Integrated Report 2025), so national output is now higher than the 2022 total.

Who owns the Mahd Ad Dhahab mine?

Ma’aden owns it. The workings are about 3,000 years old, and modern underground production began in 1988 (Ma’aden Annual Report 2023).

Who operates the Jabal Sayid mine in Saudi Arabia?

Ma’aden Barrick Copper Company, a 50/50 joint venture between Ma’aden and Barrick. Barrick’s share of copper was 32,000 tonnes in 2025.

What are Ma’aden’s gold mining projects and investments?

The main ones are Ar Rjum (about 321,000 ounces a year, first production in late 2028), the deeper ore at Mansourah-Massarah, and exploration joint ventures with Ivanhoe Electric and Hancock Prospecting. The company states a 2040 gold target of 3 million ounces a year.

What is KEFI’s stake in Saudi Arabian gold?

KEFI (AIM: KEFI) holds 13% of GMCO, whose Jibal Qutman stage 1 project received conditional approval of about US$87 million on 27 October 2026. KEFI’s own main development project is the Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia, so its Saudi interest is a minority one. GMCO’s Saudi resources total about 4.0 million ounces of gold equivalent.

What is Saudi Canadian Mining Services?

Saudi Canadian Mining Services (SCMS) is a mining and drilling contractor that says it has worked in Saudi Arabia since 1993 (GB Reports interview). Its project page lists work at the Al Baitha bauxite mine and the Sukhaybarat and Bulgah gold mines, so it serves mine owners and does not own mines itself.

Which are the main mining companies in the Middle East?

Ma’aden is the largest. In Jordan the main names are Arab Potash and Jordan Phosphate Mines, and the UAE’s largest metal producer is Emirates Global Aluminium, a smelter rather than a mine.

Can a foreign company get a mining licence in Saudi Arabia?

Yes. Foreign firms from Australia, Canada, the United States, China and Europe appear among Round 9 winners. They qualify on technical and financial strength and bid on exploration spending. Check the current rules with the ministry before bidding; this page is not legal advice.

Are cement and fertiliser companies mining companies?

They quarry or process minerals, but they are normally counted as industry rather than mining. The USGS counted 22 cement plants in 2022, which is why this list focuses on companies that run or are building mines.