ECONOMY

President Tebboune instructs Government to start exploitation of iron, zinc deposits

ALGIERS- The exploitation of the iron mine of Ghar-Djebilet in the province of Tindouf and the zinc deposit of Oued Amizour in the province of Bejaia will finally start after a long wait, thanks to the willingness of the public authorities to develop all unexploited natural resources.

President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Tuesday instructed the members of the government to start the exploitation of these two important deposits, stressing “the need to create the added value from each project” and calling for “the exploration of all lands, including rare ones, in order to compensate for the decline in the State’s revenues.”

These instructions were given in a working session that he chaired, in the presence of several ministers, and which was devoted to the examination of the draft national plan for the socioeconomic recovery.

A study was initiated in the beginning of 2019 for the exploitation of Ghar Djebilet mine in order to create “a typical plant in the region,” in addition to the exploitation of a manganese deposit.

From the end of last year, the study concerning the exploitation of iron deposit of Ghar Djebilet was in its final phase, according to the mining services of Tindouf province.

The dephosphorization of the ore has been until then a constraint that delayed the exploitation of this deposit.
Several positive fallouts are expected from this mega-project on the region and its population and on the national economy, notably the creation of over 5,000 direct jobs and about 25,000 indirect jobs, according to its technical study.

Ghar Djebilet deposit (170km south-west of Tindouf), one of the most important in the world, stretches over a surface area of 131km2 with a reserve of two billion tons. Its ore has a content of 58.57% of ore, according to the technical presentation.

Minister of Industry Ferhat Ait Ali said, in February, that Ghar Djebilet deposit “is a very heavy investment, notably because of the geographic situation of the deposit.”