Jabal Sayid Copper Mine: Inside Saudi Arabia’s Flagship Underground Success and Expansion Plans

The Jabal Sayid copper mine sits about 350 km north-east of Jeddah. It is described as the largest underground mine in Saudi Arabia, and the only one operating at this scale in the Kingdom. Byrnecut has a long operating history at the site, and an interview with the company notes the current contract runs to 2028. Operationally, 2025 physicals cited for Jabal Sayid include 4,300 metres of large scale mine development, 3.1 million tonnes of ore hauled, and 270,000 metres of production drilling. These figures show a highly mechanised underground operation focused on repeatable delivery.

Those 2025 mine metrics also provide a clean snapshot for comparing different types of work at one site using the same unit: metres. The operation reported 4,300 metres of large scale mine development and 270,000 metres of production drilling for 2025. In the same interview, Byrnecut added global 2025 totals of 175 kilometres of large scale development and 3.9 million production drilled metres, plus 41 million tonnes of ore and waste hauled. The global numbers are broader context, but the Jabal Sayid figures are the mine-specific indicators that help frame how much underground work is happening on the ground.

Lode 1 Expansion: What Changed in 2023–2024

Expansion is already underway via the Jabal Sayid Lode 1 orebody. This orebody is located less than a kilometre from the existing lode at Jabal Sayid, making it a logical extension for underground development. The development project for the extension was completed in 2024, with Byrnecut carrying out extensive underground capital development. Stoping commenced during Q3 2023, and development for 2024 was completed on schedule. The wider project also involved ventilation, paste plant and underground mining infrastructure upgrades, signalling that the expansion was supported by system-level improvements, not only ore access.

Specific enabling works were also detailed. A ventilation raise bore shaft was fully equipped, and the reaming of the fresh air ventilation shaft was completed. The reagent plant and direct flow reactor were completed as well. At the paste plant, all construction activities were completed and commissioning commenced during Q2 2024. Together, these milestones outline a sequence: underground development and early stoping, then ventilation capacity and processing-support facilities, followed by paste plant commissioning. This set of upgrades matters because it directly supports sustained underground production as mining progresses into the Lode 1 area.

Jabal Sayid’s progress also fits a larger national mining narrative described in multiple reports. Saudi Arabia has framed mining as the so-called third pillar of its Vision 2030 plan to diversify the historically oil-reliant economy. The broader goal cited is to quadruple mining’s economic contributions by 2030 and attract companies to help the country become a hub for the sector. In this context, Jabal Sayid is repeatedly referenced as a key operating example: Barrick Mining is noted as operating a copper mine in Saudi Arabia, and the Jabal Sayid belt is attracting interest from other miners planning exploration and development. That policy tailwind helps explain why expansions and infrastructure upgrades are moving from planning into execution.