Barrick and Ma’aden Formalize Jabal Sayid JV

Barrick Gold and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) have formalized their agreement to establish a 50:50 joint venture to develop the Jabal Sayid underground copper mine 120 km southeast of Medina, Saudi Arabia. The agreement was originally announced in July 2014. Ma’aden acquired its 50% interest from Barrick for cash consideration of $210 million.

Construction of the processing infrastructure for the Jabal Sayid mine was completed in the third quarter of 2012, but commissioning has been delayed since Barrick received notification from Saudi Arabia’s High Commission for Industrial Security that the mine site was not in compliance with the recently introduced safety and security standards.

Jabal Sayid is now scheduled to begin shipping low-cost concentrate in early 2016. The mine will operate for up to 15 years. As of December 31, 2013, it had 1.4 billion lb of copper in proven and probable reserves. The joint venture will carry out further exploration work within the mining license area and the exploration license area surrounding the mine with the aim of extending the mine life.

As featured in Womp 2015 Vol 01 - www.womp-int.com