Saudi's Maaden to develop new gold mines

Maaden, Saudi Arabia's largest mining firm by market value, said on Wednesday it would develop new mines and explore others to compensate for declining gold output.

"Maaden is actively engaged in developing new gold mines, which will compensate for the gradual loss of production in the existing mines," Maaden said in comments emailed to the news agency Reuters.

"Ongoing exploration is expected to extend the current mines' life and add to the total reserve of gold in the years to come."