Kick-off meeting for the Geological Mapping Program of the Arabian Shield
IGS as leader of the Technical Partner Consortium to the Saudi Geological Survey participated in the Kick-off meeting (KOM) for project Geological Mapping of the Arabian Shield, which is part of the Regional Geoscience Program (RGP), executed under the leadership of the Saudi Geological Survey. The meeting, which was organized by the contractor China Geological Survey (CGS) and its logistics partner China National Geological & Mining Corporation (CGM), took place from 19-21 March 2023 at Aliaa Swissotel Living Hotel in Jeddah with some 50 delegates from seven nations.
With 15 presentations, the contractor explained how the 11-year project should be implemented. The objective is to improve the geological knowledge of the Arabian Shield, which covers some 650,000 square kilometers, by generating a new set of geological maps. 257 maps at a scale of 1:100,000 are required. The maps will be based on new geological field surveys (undertaken at a scale of 1:50,000) including analytical work, the results of currently operational airborne geophysical and ground-based geochemical (stream sediment) surveys, an updated lithostratigraphic framework, and legacy data.
IGS is responsible for the supervision of all works and quality control of all products of project Geological Mapping of the Arabian Shield.
Group photo of KOM delegates. The CEO of SGS, Engineer Abdullah bin Muftar Al-Shamrani sits in the centre of the bottom row, flanked by the project owner Dr Wadee Kashghari (left) and Engineer Abdulrahman Al Hawi (right, SGS Vice President for Initiatives and Strategic Projects). To his right sits the leader of the CGS team Dr Wenhua Ji. The IGS team consisting of Drs Gerrit de Kock, Frik Hartzer, Christoph Dobmeier, and Peter Zawada can be seen in the centre of the photo.
IGS is an International Partner of the recently launched Regional Geological Survey Program for Saudi Arabia
On Sunday 18th October 2020, the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) launched its new Regional Geological Survey Program (RGP) in collaboration with several international partners including IGS (International Geoscience Services) Ltd.
In a virtual signing ceremony held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, headed by Bandar Al-Khorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of SGS, one contract and three contract awarding documents were signed by the IGS-GTK consortium, Sander Geophysics Arabia Ltd, Xcalibur Airborne Geophysics and the China Geological Survey. The IGS-GTK consortium signed the contract awarding document, to provide technical assistance, quality control and supervision of the survey programs. The event signalled the start of the ambitious RGP, which will survey 600,000 km2 of the potentially mineral-rich Arabian Shield in western Saudi Arabia.
The IGS-GTK consortium was represented at the ceremony by Mark Parker, Chairman of the IGS Board who said:
“The IGS-GTK consortium is pleased and proud to have been awarded the important technical oversight contract, which is a key element in one of the most important geoscience and exploration initiatives ever. We greatly look forward to working closely with SGS and other agencies in ensuring that the data from this programme are of the highest possible quality, as befits such an important project.
We whole-heartedly support the primary objective of the Arabian Shield Geoscience Data Acquisition Program to attract investment into the mining sector, and we believe that the data will also find important application in many other activities such as soil science, geohazard assessment and environmental geology.
We are sure that SGS has made the right decision in choosing our group for this vital function – with our origins in two of the world’s oldest and best geological surveys, coupled with one of the world’s best geophysical consultants as a subcontractor and Saudi Arabia’s leading geoscience firm as our partner on the ground, we are confident that we will carry out our responsibilities effectively.
I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to SGS and the team under the leadership of Dr Wadee Kashghari, whose passion and commitment as Head of the RGP program has inspired us all.
Our teams are excited by Saudi Arabia’s geology, natural and human history and culture. Both IGS and GTK have been working in Saudi Arabia for several years – some of our colleagues even for decades. These earlier projects have laid a solid foundation for further close cooperation with SGS, building up mutual trust with our Saudi colleagues and developing a good understanding of how we can support the Kingdom in the successful completion of the RGP project.
Once again, on behalf of our consortium, I am pleased and excited that we were awarded the role of Technical Partner and look forward to a long and fruitful working relationship with SGS.”
Links to media reports are provided below.
Saudi Press Agency report
Global Mining Review
ArabNews.com