Ad-Duwayhi Mine
Ad-Duwayhi Mine is one of the gold mines in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the large mines. It has an average annual production capacity of up to 180,000 oz of pure gold. It covers an area of around one km. It is located in the vicinity of Al-Khurmah Governorate, in Makkah Al-Mukarramah Province. Commercial production began there in 2016. It was officially inaugurated in 2017. It is operated by the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden).
Manufacturing capacity of Ad-Duwayhi Mine
The manufacturing capacity of Ad-Duwayhi Mine amounts to around two million t of gold ore annually, which is equivalent to two million oz produced during the initial expected lifespan of the mine. Its production capacity amounts to around 180,000 oz of gold annually. This contributes to enhancing the production capacity of Ma'aden to around 300,000 oz of gold annually.
Operations initiation at Ad-Duwayhi Mine
Ma'aden invested an amount of about SAR600 million in Ad-Duwayhi Mine to install a 450 km pipeline for transporting treated sewage water from the water treatment plan in Taif Governorate to the mine's location. The pipeline is dedicated to industrial uses related to gold extraction. Ma'aden's overall investment in the gold sector exceeded SAR1.5 billion, that were allocated to the establishment of Ad-Duwayhi Mine, its main facilities, and a 117 km road connecting Ad-Duwayhi Mine to the Taif-Riyadh highway. The mine and factory construction was completed, and commercial production was initiated in April 2016.
Characteristics of Ad-Duwayhi Mine
The mine supports Saudi Arabia's economy in general and the economy of the surrounding region in particular by providing both direct and indirect employment opportunities. Young Saudis from the province and its affiliated centers make up the majority of the Saudi workforce at the mine. Some of them received training at the Saudi Mining Polytechnic in Ar'ar, which was established by Ma'aden in collaboration with the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC).
Excavation operations in Saudi Arabia
The first excavation operations in Saudi Arabia date back to 1931, during the reign of the Founding King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud. Back then, King Abdulaziz instructed Karl Twitchell, an American geologist, to search for oil and minerals in Saudi Arabia. Twitchell's work confirmed the existence of oil in the Eastern Province and gold in the Hejaz.
Gold ore in Saudi Arabia
Gold ore in Saudi Arabia is distributed across the rocks of the Arabian Shield, which extends from the central region to the west, both northward and southward. It covers approximately six hundred thousand km², accounting for more than a quarter of Saudi Arabia's total area of about two million km², with around one thousand gold deposits discovered within it.
Sources
Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Ministry of Energy.
Ma'aden Company.
Energy to the World: The Story of Saudi Aramco. Scott McMurray. 2012.