Resource Minerals International Ltd (ASX:RMI) has confirmed high-grade gold and silver from rock chip sampling across its Shaib Marqan and Wadi Salamah projects in central Saudi Arabia, laying foundations for a maiden drilling program.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 reform agenda has elevated mining to a third pillar of the economy under the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), aiming to diversify revenues beyond oil. Minerals underpin key Vision 2030 objectives, including the green transition, digitising the economy, establishing the kingdom as a global hub for technology and connectivity, producing nuclear energy, and localising military procurement.
A new mining law that came into effect in 2021 targets the exploitation of domestic mineral resources and the development of mineral-based manufacturing. The policy is designed to reduce imports by about US$10 billion per annum and to generate more than 200,000 jobs by 2030.
Project location map.
Strong results feed into Saudi vision
At Shaib Marqan, 87 samples returned peak gold grades of 40.35 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au), 9.62 g/t Au, 7.03 g/t Au and 5.72 g/t Au, with 18 samples above 1 g/t Au from quartz vein and wall-rock outcrops.
Shaib Marqan rock chip gold assay result locations.
At Wadi Salamah, 25 samples yielded high-grade gold and silver, including 10.66 g/t Au and 40.4 g/t silver (Ag), 7.56 g/t Au and 19 g/t Ag, 5.50 g/t Au and 18 g/t Ag, and 4.27 g/t Au and 38.9 g/t Ag from quartz veins within a shear sampled over 700 metres of strike.
Wadi Salamah South rock chip sample gold and silver results in shear zone sampled over 700 metres strike length.
Extensive artisanal workings and visible sulphides were observed within quartz veins and shear zones at both projects. Follow-up work will begin with a detailed magnetic survey to refine drill targets.
“These results confirm high-grade gold and silver mineralisation across meaningful strike lengths at both projects. With extensive outcrops, historical workings and visible mineralisation, we are confident these early results will underpin a maiden drilling program. RMI is well positioned as an early-mover ASX-listed explorer in Saudi Arabia’s rapidly expanding mining sector,” RMI executive chairman Asimwe Kabunga said.
Both projects are granted Exploration Licences (EL). Shaib Marqan (91.8 square kilometres) lies about 240 kilometres southwest of Riyadh; Wadi Salamah (98.7 square kilometres) is roughly 320 kilometres west-southwest of Riyadh and 150 kilometres west of Shaib Marqan. The terrain is desert to semi-arid with low, steep-sided hills and wadi-filled valleys.
Geological setting
RMI’s projects sit within the Proterozoic Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS), which extends across much of Saudi Arabia, eastern Egypt, and Eritrea and hosts numerous significant mineral deposits.
1:1 million scale regional geology Shaib Marqan and Wadi Salamah area
Shaib Marqan (Ar Rayn Terrane)
The project lies in the southern Ar Rayn Terrane. The area is dominated by Proterozoic volcanic and intrusive rocks, with syn- to post-tectonic tonalite, diorite, trondhjemite and gabbro intruding arc-related ignimbrite, rhyolite tuff, marble and andesite of the Shalahib Formation (Al Amar Group).
Quaternary alluvial terraces and gravel sheets define wadis that partly cover the south-eastern project area. Regionally, the Ar Rayn Terrane hosts multiple mineral systems, including volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) copper-zinc, epithermal and orogenic gold, and iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) deposits.
The project is proximal to the major northwest-striking Al Amar fault zone that bounds the terrain; a significant north-south splay of this structure bisects the licence, with subordinate northeast and east–west structures contributing to a complex structural framework.
Wadi Salamah (Murdama Group)
The prospect occurs within Zaydi Formation rocks of the Murdama Group, a thick succession (10,000 metres inferred) of dominantly clastic sediments with minor volcanic and subvolcanic intercalations and very subordinate calc-dolomitic lenses. The Murdama Group is folded and intruded by hypabyssal and plutonic bodies ranging from microgranite to gabbro.
Historic mineralisation occurs in shear-hosted auriferous veins and stockworks, commonly with silver association, and was exploited by small-scale ancient workings. No modern exploration is known at either project area.
What’s next
Follow-up exploration is being prepared across both projects, starting with a detailed magnetics survey to refine drill targets.
Regional work will include stream-sediment sampling, detailed geological mapping and rock-chip sampling to generate additional drilling targets.