KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian Mining Co
(Maaden) said on Monday it had completed a preliminary feasibility
study and plans a project to exploit phosphate deposits at Umm Wual in the north
of the country.
The state-controlled minerals firm is awaiting licenses to move ahead with
the project, it said in a Saudi bourse statement.
Investment is estimated to be $5 billion, said an industry source who
declined to be identified.
Maaden would mine the Al Khabra deposit in Umm Wual, 40 kilometres northeast
of Turaif.
State oil giant Saudi Aramco is considering developing new gas
fields, Midyan and Sidr, in the Northwest area to produce gas for power plants
and potentially supply other industries in a region rich in iron ore deposits.
Saudi Arabia possesses the world's largest oil reserves but is keen to
develop its mining industry to diversify the economy away from oil.
The Umm Wual project would add nearly 1.5 million tonnes annually of
phosphorus oxide to Maaden's planned phosphate capacity, Maaden said on its
website in a brief description about the project.
The Al Khabra mining deposit has very low metal content with resources at
236 million metric tonnes of phosphorous oxide while the Umm Wual area contains
indicated resources of 450 million metric tonnes, Maaden said on its website.
An industry source said the project would use infrastructure already put in
place in Ras Al-Khair, formerly known as Ras Azzour, where Maaden has a
phosphate project with Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC).
The SABIC-Maaden's venture has a production capacity of about 3 million
tonnes per year (tpy) of Diammonium Phosphate Fertilizer (DAP).
(Reporting by Reem Shamseddine; Editing by Amena Bakr and Jason Neely)
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