Egypt is rich in phosphate reserves, and the operating conditions of mining enterprises have improved slightly


Release time:

2020-04-22

Abu Tartour, located in Egypt's New Valley Province, has the second largest phosphate ore in the world, with proven reserves of 700 million tons and estimated total reserves of about 100 billion tons. Mamdouh Ati, the mining director of the mine, said that Abu Tartour was rich in phosphate reserves, which, if properly used, would promote Egypt's economic development. The total area of the mining area is about 1200 square kilometers. At present, the mining area of Egypt Phosphate Company is only 122 square kilometers. It is estimated that a profit of US $33 million can be made for every 100 million tons of phosphate mined.

Egypt is rich in phosphate reserves, and the operating conditions of mining enterprises have improved slightly

Abu Tartour, located in Egypt's New Valley Province, has the second largest phosphate ore in the world, with proven reserves of 700 million tons and estimated total reserves of about 100 billion tons. Mamdouh Ati, the mining director of the mine, said that Abu Tartour was rich in phosphate reserves, which, if properly used, would promote Egypt's economic development. The total area of the mining area is about 1200 square kilometers. At present, the mining area of Egypt Phosphate Company is only 122 square kilometers. It is estimated that a profit of US $33 million can be made for every 100 million tons of phosphate mined.
Although the profit prospect is considerable, the operation of the mine has been poor. In 2003, the debt of mining enterprises reached 13.4 billion Egyptian pounds. In 2011, the Central Audit Office of Egypt (CAO) reported that the auxiliary development investment of the mine in transportation, port and power has been 352% higher than the estimated cost. Due to improper planning and lack of feasibility study, the mine once became a typical waste of public funds. In order to reverse the situation, the Egyptian government has reorganized mining enterprises and established Egypt Phosphate Company (EPC). However, affected by the miners' strike, the mine lost up to 5 million Egyptian pounds per day. Recently, the enterprise and the miners reached a settlement, and the business situation has improved. In 2015, the company sold 1.5 million tons of phosphate raw materials and made a profit of 90 million Egyptian pounds.
Industry insiders said that experts in the United States believed that the phosphate raw material of the mine was of good quality and could produce huge economic benefits if used to produce fertilizer. Egypt should build a phosphate fertilizer production enterprise locally, which can solve the employment problem of more than 3000 people while generating considerable economic benefits.