AMAK’s Jabal Qaran Estimate Reaches 14 Million Tonnes, With 11.3 Million Tonnes JORC Classified
Saudi Arabia’s Almasane Alkobra Mining Company, known as AMAK, has reported approximately 14 million tonnes of mineralised material at its Jabal Qaran project in Najran following an independent Mineral Resource Estimate prepared by Cube Consulting under the JORC Code. The Saudi Exchange disclosure shows that 11.3 million tonnes of the total are classified Mineral Resources under JORC 2012, while a further approximately 2.7 million tonnes remain unclassified, meaning the announcement does not establish 14 million tonnes of JORC Mineral Resources. The classified resource represents approximately 80.7 percent of the announced mineralised material, while unclassified material accounts for about 19.3 percent, on our calculation.
The Headline 27 Percent Increase Is Not a Like For Like Resource Upgrade
AMAK’s November 2025 announcement put its preliminary internal estimate at around 11 million tonnes following more than 27,000 metres of drilling, with the company saying at the time that drilling had covered less than 10 percent of the licence area and that a maiden JORC compliant estimate would follow in the second half of 2026.
Comparing 14 million tonnes today with the earlier 11 million tonne internal estimate produces a headline increase of approximately 27.3 percent, but that is not a clean comparison because today’s figure includes 2.7 million tonnes that are not JORC classified. Comparing the earlier internal estimate with the new 11.3 million tonnes of classified Mineral Resources produces a smaller increase of approximately 2.7 percent, on our calculation, though even that comparison should be treated cautiously since one figure was an internal preliminary estimate and the other an independently prepared JORC estimate. The main advancement is resource classification and independent verification, rather than simply a 27 percent increase in economically established tonnage.
Polymetallic Mineralisation Accounts for Most of the Classified Resource
AMAK said the 11.3 million tonnes of classified Mineral Resources comprise the following.
| Resource | Tonnage | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Polymetallic mineralisation | 9.7 million tonnes | 1.38% CuEq |
| Gold mineralisation | 1.5 million tonnes | 1.10 g/t Au |
The two rounded components add to 11.2 million tonnes rather than 11.3 million tonnes because the issuer reports the figures on a rounded basis. Polymetallic mineralisation represents about 85.8 percent of the classified total, on our calculation. A grade times tonnage calculation gives approximately 133,860 tonnes of contained copper equivalent metal in the 9.7 million tonne polymetallic resource, though CuEq is an equivalency measure combining the economic contribution of multiple metals and the resource has not been converted into a reserve, so this figure must not be described as recoverable copper. The 1.5 million tonnes of gold mineralisation at 1.10 grams per tonne equates to about 1.65 million grams, or approximately 53,000 troy ounces of contained gold, on our calculation from the rounded figures, again a contained metal calculation and not a reserve or production forecast.
Less Than 10 Percent of the Licence Had Been Drilled
The November disclosure said drilling had covered less than 10 percent of the total licence area, with the site approximately 100 kilometres from AMAK’s existing processing hub. The company said additional drilling will test mineralisation at greater depth and across other prospective zones, and that it is progressing development stage studies intended to convert the exploration licence into a mining licence. The low drilling coverage supports additional exploration potential, but should not be extrapolated mechanically into a larger resource estimate, since mineralisation is not necessarily uniform across the undrilled area.
Why it matters:
The technically significant number is not 14 million tonnes by itself. It is the 11.3 million tonnes now independently classified under JORC, which moves Jabal Qaran from a preliminary internal discovery estimate toward a resource with a recognised international reporting framework, reducing one layer of geological uncertainty while leaving mining economics, recoveries and reserve conversion still to be demonstrated.
Outlook:
The next material milestones are additional drilling, any increase in the classified resource, development studies, reserve conversion and the eventual application to move from an exploration licence to a mining licence.
Sources: Saudi Exchange; Cube Consulting Pty Ltd.
