Egypt’s Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Tarek el Molla announced the establishment of a new company to produce 1 million tons of phosphate annually, with total investments amounting to $250 million.
This came during the signing ceremony of a shareholders’ agreement between the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA), East Gas Company (EGC), and EMEX International limited to set up a company to maximise the added value of low-grade phosphate ores.
In a statement on Tuesday, the petroleum minister said that this deal comes within the framework of this important project that achieves added value to benefit from the availability of phosphate ore and the localization of advanced technology.
This adds to the mining industry, which is witnessing the implementation of plans for its development, good exploitation, and maximizing benefit from it by all available means and capabilities in light of what it achieves in catering for the needs of industry, agriculture and the construction sector, the minister said.
The new company, it is working to achieve the maximum benefit to maximize the added value of Egyptian phosphate raw material by applying an advanced technology that relies on raising the phosphorus concentration through the “GetMoreP” process.
The “GetMoreP” process starts from the rock phosphate (that can be either low- or high- grade) and uses diluted sulfuric acid possibly recovered from metal industries.
This technology will raise the concentration of Phosphate rock (PR) to levels exceeding 37%.
