The call for expressions of interest (EOIs) for the development of Algeria’s long-planned Bled El Hadba (Tébessa) Integrated Phosphate Project (PPI) for the production of fertilizer in the eastern regions of the North African country will be launched this year, according to a report last weekend by El Watan news, citing Algeria’s Ministry of Mines report for the implementation of the 2020 action plan.
Algeria currently is in the process of looking for a potential technological partner for the project, according to the ministry.
A phosphates development plan worth $6 billion, divided into three phases, was established for a phosphate mining and processing megaproject in eastern Algeria last summer, according to an All Africa Global Media report, citing the country’s Minister of Energy Abdelmadjid Attar (GM Sept. 18, 2020).
That plan comprised three phases of five years each, involving three provinces – Tébessa, Souk Ahras, and Annaba – and the restructuring of the project will allow production to begin at the end of the first phase.
Under the plan, a complex for the processing of ore is to be constructed at Bled El Hadba utilizing phosphate rock produced at the Bled el Hadba phosphate mine, with processing units to be built in Oued Kebrit (Souk Ahras) for the production of sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid, and other units established in Hadjar Essoud (Skikda) for the production of ammonia, nitric acid, and ammonium nitrate, as well as the extension of the port of Annaba for the export of finished products.
Algeria has produced around 1.2 million mt/y of phosphate rock in recent years, with much of this volume directed at the export market.
The phosphates megaproject is one of the Algerian government’s projects aimed at reducing the country’s heavy dependence on hydrocarbons.
The country is also looking to exploit its zinc-lead deposits – namely the Oued Amizour zinc project, located on the north coast of Algeria, about 10 kilometers southwest of the port city of Béjaïa, as well as iron ore, among other resources. Zinc is increasingly used in specialty fertilizers.
According to the El Watan news report, citing Algeria’s Ministry of Mines report, a joint venture company named Western Mediterranean Zinc Spa (WMZ) was created in February 2006 for the development of the Oued Amizour zinc-lead deposit, between two Algerian state-owned companies (ENOF mining company with a 32.5 percent stake and ORGM with a 2.5 percent interest) and Australian base and precious metal production company Terramin Australia Ltd., holding the 65 percent majority shareholding. However, it is unclear what progress on the project has been made, if any, since that time.
Algeria’s government, however, is ambitiously touting 2021 as the year to drive forward the diversification of the country’s economy, including “the large exploitation” of the country’s mining resources, according to the Algerie Presse Service.
Recent years, however, have seen multiple announcements by the Algerian government regarding the establishment of downstream mineral resource processing facilities in the country, which have yet to come to fruition.