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Firms submit bids for Maaden gold project water pipeline

17 July 2025

Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has received proposals from local firms for a water pipeline network it plans to build as part of a larger project to develop a new gold mining and processing facility in the Al-Rjum region of the kingdom.

The Al-Rjum gold mining and processing facility, located in Medina province, is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2027. It will become the largest gold mining operation in Saudi Arabia when operational.

According to sources, the pipeline is to be developed using a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works will have a duration of 38 months, followed by a 20-year operations and maintenance period.

Lamar Holding and Alkhorayef are understood to be the only bidders for the proposed Taif to Al-Rjum water pipeline, which forms package B of the Maaden gold mining project.

The two contractors submitted bids for the water pipeline project on 1 July, sources told MEED.

The main scope of work involves building a 150-kilometre pipeline that will supply treated sewage effluent water to the Al-Rjum gold mining facility.

ALSO READ: Saudi Arabia issues mining exploration licences

The Al-Rjum gold mining and processing facility will have an output capacity of 250,000 ounces of gold a year. The project will increase Maaden’s total gold production to 700,000 ounces a year by 2028, helping the company support Saudi Arabia’s overall goal of doubling gold production by 2030 and achieving a four-fold increase in output by 2040.

MEED recently reported that Maaden had received bids for a tender to develop accommodation facilities for over 4,500 of its workers at the upcoming Al-Rjum gold mining and processing facility.

Bids for the Al-Rjum worker accommodation tender, which is also under the BOOT model, were submitted in late June. The operations and maintenance period for this contract is 15 years.

ALSO READ: Saudi Arabia and Oman open up their minerals potential
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Indrajit Sen

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