AMMAN —
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Al-Kharabsheh said
that Jordan has begun exploration for minerals and will conduct studies to
decide the economic feasibility of extracting them, according to Ammon News.
اضافة اعلان
The minister was quoted by another
local media outlet as saying that the ministry will sign an agreement with a
company to explore gold in Abu Khushaiba region, particularly in the Jabal
Al-Mubarak area; the quantities of gold are unidentified, but studies will
decide the economic feasibility of
mining for gold and other minerals.
Kharabsheh added that the ministry
will sign three memoranda of understanding to explore gold, copper, and rare
earth metals.
He
added that preliminary studies have indicated the presence of large quantities
of potash in the Lisan area, near the
Dead Sea, which is outside the area under
Arab Potash Company concession, adding that the ministry urged the
company to participate in the explorations in the region, which will be for
gold, lithium, copper, phosphate, potash and precious metals.
According
to Kharabsheh, the ministry launched a program in December to explore for
phosphate to be used in manufacturing industries, not for export.
He said
that the ministry is studying four bids to extract copper in three regions of
the Kingdom, and that memoranda of understanding will be signed soon. He also said that the copper exploration
project in Dana Reserve is in its final stages, only awaiting the
Ministry of Environment’s
endorsement.
The ministry will use drones to
conduct surveys, said Kharabsheh, adding that exploration is currently being
done through the ministry's teams, but investment will come from the private
sector.
Kharabsheh said that surveys
conducted in 2016 pointed to the presence of good quantities of lithium, but studies
need to be done to assess whether the quantities are enough to make its
exploitation feasible.
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