Ras Az Zawr, Saudi Arabia-The Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Ma’aden) said that it has completed the project infrastructure and utilities of its phosphate joint venture with Sabic, the Ma’aden Phosphate Co. (MPC) at Al-Jalamid, and that commissioning is underway at some of the major DAP production units at Ras Az Zawr. The company has rescheduled the date for initial production, originally envisaged by the end of the fourth quarter of 2010, to the second quarter of 2011, by which time the associated infrastructure and supporting utilities in Ras Az Zawr will be completed. Commercial production is now expected to commence in the third quarter of 2011. The phosphate mine and beneficiation plant at Al Jalamid are now operating, and initial deliveries of phosphate concentrate have been made to facilitate the process of plant commissioning and start up. The SR20.6 billion (US$5.5 billion) project remains within budget, and once fully operational will produce 3 million mt/y of DAP, representing around 10 percent of the world’s current demand. Production from Al Jalamid is expected to average 12 million mt/y of ore, and beneficiation facilities at the facility will be scheduled to produce an estimated 5 million mt/y of flotation concentrate on a dry basis. Ma’aden’s measured phosphate resources at Al Jalamid are estimated to be 534 million mt. The Ras Az Zawr Jubail, on the coast of the Arabian Gulf, will produce approximately 3 million mt/y of DAP, plus approximately 400,000 mt/y of excess anhydrous ammonia. It is also anticipated that the project will generate approximately 200,000 mt/y of excess phosphoric acid for sale to the domestic market in Saudi Arabia.
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