One of Dubai's most prominent families has made a major gold discovery in Yemen worth as much as US$3 billion (Dh11.01bn) at today's high prices, The National can reveal.
The gold is in a concession held by Thani Dubai Mining, a unit of the family-owned Thani Investments, which is understood to be awaiting Yemeni government clearance to announce proved reserves of about 2.2 million ounces near the coastal town of Al Mukalla, south-east of Yemen's Wadi Hadramaut.
Gold has soared to record prices this year and was worth as much as $1,330 per troy ounce on world markets last night, making it more feasible to prospect in remote and dangerous regions.
Mining companies usually consider 1 million ounces of reserves as the threshold for justifying a feasibility study for a gold mine.
But it would take between 10 and 15 years from the start of exploration to prove the presence of sufficient resources for a commercial project and to develop a mine, said
Chris Sammartino, the chief financial officer of Cantex Mine Development, a Canadian minerals exploration company that is also active in Yemen.
Sources at Thani Investments said Thani Dubai had conducted a drilling programme to assess reserves and had submitted a final report to the Yemeni oil and minerals ministry. Thani Dubai was waiting for the ministry to release the results.
The mining unit started drilling ore samples in 2007. Last year, it said it was analysing the data it had collected and would use the results to define programmes for further exploration and development of the Medden gold deposit near Al Mukalla.
Despite the difficulties inherent in pursuing a large minerals development in politically unstable Yemen, the poorest Arab nation, gold extraction could be lucrative.
While Yemen might contain rich gold deposits, the challenges in developing them should not be underestimated, said Syed Akhtar, a senior analyst at Kuwait's Global Investment House.
"You need good transportation infrastructure such as railways," Mr Akhtar said. "For Yemen, this is a problem."
But in ancient Yemen, a lack of railways did not stop gold mining.
"The Sabaeans were most famous for exploiting gold, to the extent that it was said the Sabaeans were one of the richest nations in the region because of the large number of gold mines in their land," the Yemen geological survey and mineral resources board said in the introduction to a 2008 document on mining exploration projects in the country.
"The doors, ceilings and walls of their palaces and temples were all decorated with gold, silver and gemstones."
This year, the board published the results of a number of geological and geochemical surveys carried out by the government and foreign minerals exploration companies that had located 40 gold and silver deposits in Yemen.
The most promising results were from the Medden area. The board said the estimated 678,000-tonne concession would produce an average of 15 grams of gold and 11 grams of silver a tonne.
Thani Dubai acquired a second Yemeni mining concession in 2008, in the Wadi Sharis/Hajjah area northwest of Sana'a. The board estimated that would provide an average of 7 grams of gold per tonne without providing an estimate of the concession's size.
tcarlisle@thenational.ae
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
T20 World Cup Qualifier A, Muscat
Friday, February 18: 10am - Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm - Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am - Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm - UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am - Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm - Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm – semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm – final
UAE squad: Ahmed Raza (captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv
What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Honeymoonish
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Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Favourite things
Luxury: Enjoys window shopping for high-end bags and jewellery
Discount: She works in luxury retail, but is careful about spending, waits for sales, festivals and only buys on discount
University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China
Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai
Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China
Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs
