Saudi Arabia's Exploration Enablement Program helps companies fund early-stage exploration. What it supports, how it has developed and how to prepare.
Saudi Arabia wants mining to become the third pillar of its industry, alongside oil and petrochemicals, under Vision 2030. Every new mine starts with exploration, and exploration is risky and expensive. The Exploration Enablement Program (EEP) is one of the ways the Kingdom shares that early risk with the companies doing the work.
This guide explains what the programme supports, how it has developed and how licence holders can prepare. Details change from one wave to the next, so always check the latest official information before you apply.
What the Exploration Enablement Program is
The EEP is run by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources in collaboration with the Ministry of Investment. It gives exploration companies financial support for early-stage work, the stage where geological surveys, drilling and laboratory testing decide whether a project moves forward.
How the programme has developed
- Wave 1 was launched in January 2024 at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh.
- Wave 2 qualified 12 companies with 38 approved licences, announced in November 2025, with exploration commitments of nearly SAR 664 million. In this wave, support took the form of reimbursements of up to SAR 7.5 million per licence.
- Wave 3 opened for applications on 14 January 2026, and the submission window was later extended to 3 May 2026. It offers up to 25 percent cash incentives on eligible exploration expenditure, including drilling, laboratory testing and geoscientific studies, and up to 15 percent support for the salary costs of employees residing in the Kingdom.
The published Wave 3 timetable also includes a stage for submitting exploration data, followed by verification. That makes good records part of the programme, not an afterthought.
Who it is for
The programme is aimed at exploration companies and licence holders, local and international, who want to move projects from exploration towards development. Eligibility rules, eligible costs and deadlines are set out for each wave on the Ta'adeen platform, the Kingdom's mining platform, so read the current documents carefully before planning around the programme.
How to prepare a strong application
Programmes like the EEP reward work that is planned well and recorded well. Whatever the rules of the current wave, the same foundations help.
A clear work programme
Set out the exploration question, the targets and the sequence of work: mapping, sampling, geophysics, drilling and testing. Explain why each step is needed and what result would justify the next one.
A budget by activity
Break the budget down by activity and match it to the work programme. Keep eligible and non-eligible costs separate from the start, so claims are easy to support with contracts and invoices.
Capable people and contractors
Show who will do the work. Experienced geologists, qualified drilling and laboratory partners, and a safety system that works on remote sites all make a programme more credible.
Data you can stand behind
Plan how drilling, sampling, survey and assay data will be captured, checked and stored. Documented QA/QC, a drillhole database with every record traceable to its source, and consistent reporting make the data submission stage straightforward.
A realistic timeline
Build the programme around the dates of the wave you apply for, and around the seasons. Summer heat limits outdoor work, laboratories can take weeks to return results, and rigs and crews need to be booked in advance. A timeline that allows for these realities is easier to deliver and easier to report on.
Questions to ask before you apply
- Does the current wave cover the minerals, licence type and costs in your programme?
- Which expenditure is eligible, and how must it be evidenced?
- What data must be submitted, in what format and by when?
- Who in your team, or among your contractors, will prepare the records and reports?
- What happens if results change the programme part way through?
Common pitfalls
- A scope that is too vague to show what the money will achieve
- Costs that cannot be traced to contracts, invoices and the work done
- Missing QA/QC, or QA/QC results that nobody reviewed during the programme
- Underestimating mobilisation, logistics and summer working limits on remote licences
- Data scattered across spreadsheets, emails and contractors, with no single dataset at the end
Where Takween fits
Takween helps licence holders plan and deliver exploration programmes and keep the records that reporting depends on. Our advisory and reporting team plans programmes and prepares progress and final reports, and our drilling, geology, QA/QC and data teams deliver and document the work itself, as one accountable partner.
Programme details change between waves, and decisions about eligibility rest with the ministries. For the latest official information, see the Ta'adeen platform and the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources. To plan the work itself, contact our team.
