AMMAN —
Phosphate quantities discovered in the first phase of digging in the eastern
Ruwaished region is estimated at more than half-a-billion metric tonnes,
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources
Saleh Al-Kharabsheh said.
اضافة اعلان
The discovery
showed concentrations between 25 and 36 percent, Kharabsheh said in a press
statement Saturday following a tour of the project.
The project was
launched in the Risha area last December.
During the tour,
he was briefed on the latest developments in drilling and prospecting
activities and the results of chemical analysis.
Preliminary
results of the first phase, which took place in an area of about 60 Sq.Km, are “excellently hopeful” in terms of thicknesses and qualities,
Kharabsheh said.
The confirmed
thicknesses of the initial excavation work reached between 4 to 10m, and
they are of medium and excellent quality, he added.
The concentration
of phosphates in confirmed layers ranges between 25 and 36 percent, with very
low rates of iron and clay minerals with an average of less than 0.1 percent
compared to international standards that accept crude in the range of 1.2
percent, he said.
He explained that
this result confirms that the Jordanian crude is free from metallic impurities
that hinder use in manufacturing industries.
While preliminary
studies estimated initial reserves at more than half-a-billion metric tonnes of
phosphate of medium and excellent quality, it is expected that much larger
reserves will be found after the completion of the next stages, the minister
added.
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