In 2009, after years of economic
prosperity, the annual growth rate in North Africa slowed from
4.4% to 2.6% as a result of the international financial crisis.
The region was affected by lower export earnings, investment
flows, and remittances.
However, even though the global
downturn has not spared the North Africa region, good
economic fundamentals, appropriate policy responses, and
sizeable currency reserves are helping to mitigate the impact
of the shock, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
in its latest assessment of conditions in the region.
North Africa - like
Sub-Saharan Africa - owns an enviable panel of valuable
resources from oil to metals, also involving industrial
minerals. On top of its resources in oil, gas, and iron, the
region has a handful of industrial minerals such as barytes,
fluorspar, limestone, gypsum and kaolin (see table
p.57). In addition there is a growing cement industry
(see table p.58), thanks to the housing sector boosted
by a growing population.
North Africa is generally
recognised as the well-established producer of a more and more
popular mineral: phosphate.

Moroccos OCP plans to transform its
Jorf Lasfar plant (picture) into an international
chemical hub for phosphates and to produce
an extra 20.5m. tpa of phosphate rock by 2016.
Courtesy OCP
Generally, the industrial minerals market is doing well
in North Africa North Africas market is doing better than
Sub-Saharan Africa because North Africa was less affected by
the global financial crises and managed to have higher economic
growth, because of projects in hydrocarbon sector which
continued to create demand for some industrial minerals,
commented Mostafa Taib, analyst, US Geological Survey (USGS),
to IM.
The industrial minerals market is
doing well in Algeria, Egypt, and Libya; it is quite stable in
Tunisia and performing weakly in Mauritania. The
availability of natural gas made it possible to expand nitrogen
and phosphate fertiliser expansion projects and cement plants
in Egypt, Algeria and Libya, revealed Taib.
Phosphate: North
Africas driver
North Africa, thanks to its
vast reserves of phosphate resources and its geographical
location, is an attractive place for phosphate-based industry,
commented Khalid Siraj Subhani, chief executive officer
designate at Engro Corp. Ltd formerly Engro Chemical
Pakistan Ltd, which is looking to invest in the region (see
below).
Despite a tough year in 2009 which
witnessed a 30% drop in phosphate production, North Africa is
starting up again, beginning in Q4 2009, according to Michel
Prudhomme from the International Fertilizer Institute
(IFA).
North Africa has a long history in
phosphate mining, going back to up a century ago, and owns two
of the world top five producing countries: Morocco
(3rd) and Tunisia (5th).
In 2008, North Africa produced
almost 40m. tonnes of phosphate and plans are being made among
its main producing countries Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and
Egypt to dramatically boost production in order to meet
the expected increased demand for the fertiliser mineral
worldwide in the next few years.
Contrary to its two main
competitors, the USA and China which mainly consume their
products domestically, North Africa exports most of its
phosphate. Our agriculture is not as developed as in the
USA or China, explained the World Phosphate Institute
(Imphos) to IM, the main reason being the
challenging weather conditions.
For instance, Moroccos
agriculture accounts for 18% of the GDP, its main sectors being
industry and tourism. As a consequence, North Africa exports
more than 50% of its phosphate rock worldwide, processing the
remaining into phosphate fertiliser and phosphoric acid for
domestic use and export.
North Africas main phosphate
consumer is India. The Asian country, owing to its very poor
resources in phosphate and a growing population expected to
exceed 1,300m. by 2020, is in desperate need of the fertiliser
mineral. According to Imphos, Morocco sent more than 50% of its
27m. tonnes phosphate to India in 2007.
I see good opportunities for
phosphate rock and fertilisers for Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco
as the demand for fertiliser is expected to pick up in
2010, analyst Mostafa Taib, told IM.
I think that Tunisia in particular has a big challenge of
maintaining the same levels of production that it used to have
in recent years. Tunisia started early in fertiliser
manufacturing and mining, with triple superphosphate (TSP)
plant starting in 1952, and phosphoric acid plant in 1972.
It seems that other countries such as Algeria and Egypt
are catching up with Tunisia and offering similar products to
the same market, he added.
North Africas main industrial minerals production
(tpa)

Source: USGS, IFA, Ministry of Mines Morocco
Morocco: Phosphate leader
Morocco is the worlds third
largest phosphate producer accounting for 16.7% of global
output after China (29%) and the USA (18.5%), and before Russia
(6.5%) and Tunisia. The country is said to have the largest
phosphate reserves in the world.
In 2008, the country of King
Muhammad VI produced 24.8m. tonnes of phosphate rock, down from
27.8m. in 2007. Moroccos phosphate exports were reduced
in 2009 owing to the financial crisis which weakened global
demand but the production is expected to grow again during
2010.
Almost all phosphate extraction is
conducted by the Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP), a
state-owned company created in 1920 by the Moroccan
government.
Since its first rock production in
1922, OCP steadily increased production from 1m. tonnes of
phosphate in 1939 to 22m. tonnes in 2008. Its phosphate
fertiliser exports increased from less than 100,000 tpa during
the 1970s to more than 1m. tonnes in 2006 and phosphoric acid
exports increased from 631,800 tonnes in 1990 to 1.5m. tonnes
in 2000.
OCP sells its phosphate all over
the world: phosphate rock to North America and Europe;
fertilisers to Western Europe and Brazil; and phosphoric acid
to the Indian sub-continent only since China became phosphate
self-sufficient.
The Moroccan company operates four
major mining areas in Khouribga, Ben Guerir, Boucraa Laayoune,
and Youssoufia. The vast majority of ore is used internally at
OCPs two fertiliser complexes, Safi and Jorf Lasfar,
which both contribute to an overall fertiliser output of 4m.
tpa, the second biggest in the world after the US Mosaic Co.
(9m. tpa capacity) and before Russias PhosAgro AG, third
with 3m.tpa.
Safi produces over 1.5m. tpa
phosphoric acid, 500,000 tpa TSP, 250,000 tpa NPK, and 400,000
tpa MAP. Jorf Lasfar, located on the Moroccan east-coast,
outputs 2m. tpa phosphoric acid from 7m. tpa ore mainly
supplied by the Khouribga mines.
OCP has planned a few new projects
in order to meet the increased need for the fertiliser mineral
in the future. For that to happen, in an economic environment
affected by the financial crisis which witnessed falling
prices, OCP secured in January 2009 a strategic partnership
with the Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) in Morocco in order to
reinforce its position as the worlds leading phosphate
producer.
The partnership is expected to
result in a better beneficiation of the phosphate rock
from 48% to 70%. In addition, it will transform
OCPs Jorf Lasfar plant, located 100km south of Casablanca
international airport, into an international chemical hub
for phosphates.
Part of OCPs plans include
opening four new mines by 2016 which should produce an extra
20.5m. tpa of phosphate rock. The total investment for the four
mines is $1,680m. and should increase total production capacity
from about 25m. at present to 45-50m. tpa phosphate by
2020,Êan astonishing figure which matches todays
total Chinese output.
Khouribga, which operates the
worlds biggest open pit phosphate mine, will soon be home
to three new mines bringing the total to six in the area. The
initial phosphate capacity will be raised by 17.5m. tpa,
bringing Khouribga production to 36.5m. tpa. The openings of
all three mines will be phased between 2012 and 2016. OCP will
also open a mine in south Ben Guerir in 2014, producing 3m. tpa
(IM February 2009,p.6: OCP phosphates hub).
The first mine, Hlassa, will be in
Khouribga and should produce 5.5m. tpa. It is expected to be
ready in 2010. The second one, Ouled Fares mine, also in
Khouribga, will open in 2012 and will produce 6m. tpa. OCP will
then open the third mine in south Ben Guerir in 2014, producing
3m. tpa. The last mine, also situated in Khouribga but in the
north central zone, should be ready in 2016 and will produce
6m. tpa.
OCP also intends to invest $720m.
to upgrade its processing and logistics by 2020. The company
wants to build two pipelines for phosphate rock transportation,
a desalination plant and to extend its port of Jorf Lasfar.
At present, OCPs phosphate is
transported by train. This system of transportation will be
replaced by two phosphate slurry pipelines, about 200km each,
with an annual capacity of 55m. tpa. The first one will connect
the site of Khouribga to the chemical plant of Jorf Lasfar
which allows vessels with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes. The
second pipeline will follow the axis from Gantour to Safi, a
town situated south of the port of Jorf Lasfar, on the Atlantic
Ocean coast. The first pipeline should be operational in
2012.
In addition, the Libya-Africa
Investment Portfolio of Switzerland and the OCP signed an
agreement to jointly develop phosphoric acid, and DAP
fertiliser plants in Morocco and Libya. Under the $1bn
agreement, the two firms would construct a 1m. tpa phosphoric
acid plant at Jorf Lasfar in Morocco at a cost of $350m., and a
$150m. DAP facility in either Libya or Morocco.
Morocco at a
glance
King: Muhammad VI
Capital: Rabat
Population: 32.3m.
GDP growth: 3.4%
GDP: $55,000m.
IM: phosphate (3rd); barytes (8% of world
resources); fluorspar (2% of world resources); bentonite;
cement
Fluorspar
Among a range of industrial
minerals (see table p.57), Morocco produced about
80,000 tonnes of acid-grade fluorspar, up from 78,900 tonnes in
2007 according to the USGS and mainly sold to aluminium
fluoride manufacturers in Tunisia, Europe and Canada.
Production started in 1974 with the
Societe Anonyme dEntreprises Minires (SAMINE), a
subsidiary of Managem. The company has one mine in El Hammam,
located about 80km from Meknos, and produces 90,000 tpa
concentrate.
The deposits capacity is
120,000 tonnes concentrate. In 2008, production of concentrate
decreased to 56,724 tonnes from 78,817 tonnes the year before.
The company explained this drop as a result of the
construction work which has been done to improve El Hammam
site.
Managems main competitor is
China which, according to the company, benchmarks
fluorspar prices on the international market owing
to its high level of production.
Other
resources
In 2008, the Moroccan Office of
Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) opened a number of high demand
industrial minerals deposits to potential buyers and bids for
andalusite, magnesite and zircon deposits have been welcomed
since then. However, these deposits are still waiting for
investors to go into production.
The Sidi Bou Othmane refractory
grade andalusite deposit, located 25km north of Marrakech,
hosts 8m. tonnes andalusite schists and 1m. tonnes andalusite
sands. Lesser quality andalusite has been identified in the
remainder of the deposit, with 20m. tonnes indicated (53.5%
Al2O3, 0.7% Fe2O3,
8.1% RP).
Located in north Morocco, the
Boudkek magnesite deposit is 80km south-east of Tangiers port.
Its potential was assessed at 2m. tonnes magnesite at 42% MgO,
800,000 tonnes 44% MgO with a cutting grade of 39% MgO. The
Boudkek deposit was selected for development owing to its ease
of access, and work to date includes detailed mapping,
laboratory studies, trenches, reconnaissance shafts, core
drilling and testing.
In south Morocco, the Bouissaffen
zircon ore deposit is located 65km from Guelmim. Site analysis
has revealed an estimated resource of 22.32m. tonnes of 0.64%
ZrO2 and 4.4% TiO2.
Algeria boosts
phosphate
Algeria wants to be a major
player in the phosphate rock market, commented Taib from
USGS. Both Morocco and Tunisia are already established as
world top producers and Algeria could compete with Tunisia but
not with Morocco, at least in production volume, he
added.
Algeria produced 1.8m. phosphate
rock in 2008, the only producer being the Socit des
Mines de Phosphate (SOMIPHOS), a subsidiary of Ferphos Group
SpA.
According to the USGS, mining
output of phosphate increased by more than 100% since 2004 and
by 19% to 1.8m. in 2007. It came as part of the
government policy to promote mining, especially since Algeria
is between two major phosphate rock producers, namely Tunisia
and Morocco and because of the availability of large reserves
(according to government officials), explained Taib to
IM.
The country has phosphate reserves
of about 2,000m. tonnes, located in the basin of Djebel Onk in
Tebessa province, which are all exploitable as open pit. But
according to the Algerian ministry of mines, these resources
are a small part of the basins potential and as Imphos
explained to IM, they are difficult to exploit
because of the quality of the material, which has a low content
in P2O5.
That does not stop foreign
investors searching for new sources of the fertiliser mineral
such as Engro Corp. Ltd formerly Engro Chemical Pakistan
Ltd which revealed to IM that it plans to
invest $1,000m. in a new phosphate fertiliser plant in North
Africa this year.
Even though the chemical and
fertiliser company did not confirm in which country, it
explained that it has plans in Algeria, in addition to be
working on other options in phosphate rich
countries. These areÊunderstood to include Morocco
and Tunisia.
We are working on various
options in key North African countries with phosphate rock
deposits. Some of these options are being pursued along with
other international companies and are at different stages of
maturity, said Khalid Siraj Subhani, chief executive
officer designate at Engro. He added that none of the projects
have been finalised.
Engros main local partner in
Algeria is phosphate producer Ferphos, but the company is
similarly working with other [neighbouring] partners in
other countries.
Engro hopes to start production
between 2013 and 2015, targeting an output in the range of
1-2m. tpa of diammonium phosphate (DAP).
Engros move is part of the
demerger and transfer of the company to expand its fertiliser
business into a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, named Engro
Fertilizers Ltd.
Although the company was focusing
on North Africa, Subahni said other attractive locations
can also be evaluated in future.
However, Algeria will have to
upgrade its phosphate rock shipping designated for export and
using stable railway instead of trucking.
SOMIPHOS has also revealed to
IM that it plans a big project for
phosphate fertilisers and phosphoric acid in the east of
the country which should be effective at the end of 2010 or the
beginning of 2011. At time of press, the company could not be
more specific.
Algeria at a glance
President: Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Capital: Algiers
Population: 35.5m.
GDP growth: 4.6%
GDP: $182,000m.
Industries: helium (world 2nd
producer), oil (2nd African producer, 1% of world
reserves), natural gas (2.8% of world reserves)
IM: phosphate, cement, clay, gypsum, barytes, bentonite,
limestone, kaolin
Barytes and kaolin
The Societe des Mines de Baryte
dAlgerie (SOMIBAR) is the national leader in the
production of barytes, producing more than 55,000 tpa mainly
for the oil industry.
The company, a subsidiary of ENOF,
owns a barytes deposit in Draissa, located 300km south west of
the city of Bechar. It has resources of 6.5m. tonnes. The
capacity is 100,000 tpa and SOMIBAR plans to increase
production within the next few years in order to meet the
market demand.
SOMIBAR also produces dolomite and
barytes in An Mimoun, near the city of Tamza, located
about 208km from the port of Skikda. The operation has a
capacity of 40,000 tpa barytes.
The Societr des Kaolins
dAlgerie (SOALKA) SpA, another subsidiary of ENOF, is the
only kaolin producer in the country but also in North
Africa.
The company owns two kaolin
deposits located in El Milia and Debbagh, in the provinces of
Jijel and Guelma, in addition to a processing plant in El
Milia, with a capacity of 50,000 tpa.
SOALKA produces three grades of
kaolin: the two first for ceramics and the third one for
refractories. The kaolin is used for the domestic market,
mainly for ceramics which depends on the construction market,
severely impacted by the global downturn last year.
But the company remains positive as
the market started again to improve since the beginning of
2010, thanks to a project of 1m. houses to be built between by
2013 launched by the government. Therefore, the company has
planned to increase capacity, and to diversify
quality as Farid Bourbia, director of development at
SOALKA, told IM. We want to increase our
panel of products in order to expand our market, he
added.
The company reports prices for its
kaolin ranging between DZD 6,000-9,000($82-123)/tonne for
ceramics and refractory grades, and
DZD10,500-12,500($144-171)/tonne for paper coating grade.
Tunisia
Tunisia is the worlds fifth
ranked producer of phosphate rock and accounted for 5.2% of the
world supply of phosphate rock in 2007, producing about 8m.
tpa. It is Africas second largest producer after
Morocco.
Phosphate production in Tunisia is
controlled and operated by state-owned Compagnie des Phosphates
de Gafsa (CPG), which has nine operating open cast and
underground operations in the Gafsa region and has been mining
phosphate for almost a century.
More than 90% of the phosphate
rocks are currently mined from Gafsa. The Tunisian phosphate is
then processed into trisodium phosphate (TSP), diammonium
phosphate (DAP), nitrate fertiliser and phosphoric acid by its
subsidiary Groupe Chimique Tunisien (GCT).
Tunisias second largest
phosphate deposit after the Gafsa deposit is Sra Ouartane,
located in the southern part of the Tunis basin, and operated
by CPG. According to the Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Energy
and Small and Medium Entreprises, the Sra Ouertane mine has
estimated reserves of 1,000m. tonnes of phosphate ore, with a
minimum of 50 years mine life.
The Sra Ouartane deposit is being
eyed by the Indian mining company National Mineral Development
Company (NMDC), which announced that it intends to bid for a
new phosphate operation in the north-west deposit.
NMDCs chief executive officer
Rana Som explained that, as part of a consortium led by
Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF), NMDC is sending a
team to Tunisia to inspect the rock phosphate mine.
That will come as good news for the
Tunisian government, which is looking for investors to exploit
its Sra Ouertane phosphate deposit.
A source from Groupe Chimique
Tunisien (GCT) Ð the government-owned company which
processes the Tunisian phosphate ore produced by subsidiary
Compagnie des Phosphates de Gafsa (CPG) told
IM that China National Chemical Engineering
Co. (CNCEC) also made an offer to exploit the phosphate rock
mine which is located 220km from Tunis.
According to the same source, Vale
SA is also showing interest in the Sra Ouertane deposit (IM
10 August 2009: Vale eyes Tunisian phosphate) but the
Brazilian company did not want to comment.
The deal with the chosen investor
would be to produce 4-5m. tpa of concentrated phosphate and to
transform the phosphate produced into several forms of
fertilisers by implementing a chemical complex of 1m. tpa of
phosphate, under forms of Merchant Grade Acid (MGA),
monoammonium phosphate (MAP), DAP or TSP.
Tunisia at a glance
President: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Capital: Tunis
Population: 10.5m.
GDP growth: 5.1%
GDP: $40.8m.
Industries: Petroleum
(11th African producers)
IM: phosphate (5th), cement, fluorspar
Other minerals
According to the USGS, in 2007 the
country also produced industrial minerals such as lime (395,000
tonnes ); clays (5m. tonnes) mainly for the construction
market; gypsum (157,000 tonnes) and cement.
The country also produces fluorspar
as the improvement in world fluorspar prices prompted an
interest in the past-producing fluorspar mines and fluorspar
deposits in Tunisia. According to the USGS, mine production of
aluminium fluoride increased by 8% in 2007 to about 46,000
tonnes.
Egypt
Egypts natural resources
include natural gas and petroleum, and therefore a production
of about 4m. tonnes sulphur as a by-product of the oil
industry. But apart from the cement sector, which is one of the
most flourishing in North Africa, the country is working on
using its phosphate assets. Egypt of course has an
advantage because of its location and the size of its
industrial minerals market, it was able to attract foreign
investments for a large nitrogen and phosphate fertiliser
project because of the availability of cheap natural gas,
Taib from USGS explained to IM.
But the mining conditions,
including for phosphate, are still challenging owing to the
surrounding desert, the lack of water and the fact that the
deposit is far from the sea compared to the Moroccan, Tunisian
and Algerian deposits which are located closed to the
Mediterranean Sea. Having a good deposit is not enough,
you need to have good geographical conditions, commented
Imphos.
However, the country increased its
phosphate production to 3.2m. in 2008, up from 2.5m. the
previous year.
Egypt at a glance
President: Hosni Mubarack
Capital: Cairo
Population: 84.8m.
GDP growth: 4.5%
GDP: $212,000m.
Industries: Natural gas, petroleum,
iron
IM: phosphate, cement, construction materials, granite,
gypsum, limestone, raw materials for glass
Mauritania, Libya & Sudan
Mauritania, Libya and Sudan are the
only North African countries which do not own or produce
phosphate. However, the three countries are developing their
cement industries to meet the increasing demand for
construction material. They are also producers of gypsum, lime
and kaolin (see table p.57and map).
However, political instability can
remain an issue to improve the industrial minerals sector.
Mauritania, for example, has to overcome the challenge of
political instability first. Industrial minerals production in
Mauritania can pick up once main metal mining like gold, iron
ore or uranium is solidified and adequately funded by foreign
investor, commented MostafaTaib.
In Western Sahara, the only
production is phosphate, which is managed by a subsidiary of
Moroccos OCP. The total output was about 2m. in 2008.
However, mining phosphate in the area remains challenging owing
to the desert climate and the lack of water.
Libya at a glance
President: Muammar Qaddafi
Capital: Tripoli
Population: 6.5m.
GDP growth: 5.1%
GDP: $55,000m.
Industries: oil (3.6% world
reserves, owns largest African reserves, 3rd among
African producers)
IM: cement, gypsum, lime
Outlook: the Sub-Saharan
factor
North Africa seems to have bright
days ahead for its two main assets: the phosphate and cement
industries.
Firstly, as explained above, an
increase in production of cement and other minerals needed for
residential, commercial and industrial sector, is expected by
2020 in parallel to more foreign investment in these countries
especially if government regulations were
loosened.
Algeria and Egypt are the North
African countries seen as the ones with the most opportunities,
cement, construction material, phosphate rock, and phosphate
fertiliser being the most promising minerals because of
the abundance natural gas resources which can be used for
energy and as a component in fertiliser production,
believes USGS Taib. Any industrial mineral that can
be used in the petroleum industry or building sector is
expected to have potential in the near future, he
added.
Then, world demand for phosphate is
expected to grow at a healthy rate of 2% per year, owing to the
increase of population worldwide followed by a growing need for
fertilisers.
Being mainly an exporter of
phosphate, North Africas main weakness stands in the fact
that it therefore depends on world demand, contrary to the USA
and China which predominantly consume their product
domestically. There are great resources in North Africa
but it all depends on the international market, warned
Imphos.
Demand is expected to grow
until 2030, Patrick Heffer from IFA, explained to
IM. While demand will decrease in Europe and
China, being stable in North America, the boost is expected to
come from India and Brazil, but also, more surprisingly, from
Sub-Saharan Africa as the region will develop its agriculture
and biofuels within the next decade.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the
situation is a bit similar that of Brazil. The soil in
Sub-Saharan Africa is phosphate deficient and therefore has a
huge need in phosphate, underlined Heffer, adding:
Growth from Africa will befaster than in the rest of the
world.
However, the balance in the
phosphate routes may change within the next two years when
Saudi Arabia start its new phosphate production. The Saudi
Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden), the countrys first
phosphate producer, is targeting 12m. tonnes phosphate rock
output from H1 2011 in addition to 200,000 tpa phosphoric acid
by 2012 (IM June 2009: Seeking Saudi mineral
potential).
As a result, with Saudi Arabia geographically facing of
India and Pakistan, it could become quite tempting for these
two major phosphate consumers to use the nearer Saudi phosphate
instead of North African sources.
North Africas main industrial minerals producers
Mineral |
Company |
Location |
Capacity (tpa) |
National prod. in 2008 (tonnes) |
Algeria |
|
|
|
|
Barytes |
Société des Mines de Baryte
dAlgérie SpA |
Draissa mine and plant |
100,000 |
63,000 (2007) |
Bentonite |
Bentonites Co. of Algeria (BENTAL) |
Hammam Boughrara |
18,000 |
33,000 (2007) |
|
|
MSila |
15,000 |
|
Dolomite |
Algerian Aggregates SpA (ALGRAN) |
Djebel Taioualet |
8,000 |
|
Feldspar |
TUFEAL Sarl |
Bouaita |
83,000 |
83,000 (2007) |
Gypsum |
About 60 small or medium scale operations |
35 units in 14 provinces |
1.2m. |
1.2m. (2007) |
Kaolin |
Société des Kaolin
dAlgérie SpA |
Tamazert , El Milia |
12,000 |
|
|
SARL Faïenceries Algériennes |
Adjarda, Chekfa |
95,000 |
|
Lime |
SODEPAC |
Hassasna |
93,000 |
|
Limestone |
Mittal Steel Annaba SPA |
Oued Nhal |
250,000 |
|
Phosphate |
Société des Mines de Phosphates SpA
(SOMIPHOS) |
Djebel Onk, Kef Snoun |
1.8m. |
1.8m. |
Sulphuric acid |
Société Algérienne du Zinc |
Ghazaouet |
70,000 |
|
Egypt |
|
|
|
|
Phosphate |
El Nasar Mining Co |
East Sabaiya, West Sabaiya, and El Qusier |
1m. |
3.2m. |
Morocco |
|
|
|
|
Barytes |
Central dAchat et de Développement de la
Région Minière du Tafilalet et de Figuig
(CADETAF) |
Errachidia, Figuig and Ouarzazate |
16,000 |
725,000; 664,708 tonnes in 2007 |
|
Compagnie Marocaine des Barytes (COMABAR) |
Tlet Ighoud, Safi |
160,000 |
|
|
|
Zelmou, Figuig |
110,000 |
|
Bentonite |
Société Minière Bentonite
dAfarha SA |
Aferha |
9,200 |
50,125; down from 136,097 in 2007 |
|
Société dexploitation des mines
du Rif (SEFERIF), BRPM) |
Bou Hoed, near Ouixane |
15,000 |
|
Feldspar |
|
|
|
30,080 |
Fluorspar |
Société Anonyme dEntreprises
Minières (SAMINE) |
El Hammam, Khemisset |
120,000 |
56,700 |
Perlite |
Perlite Roche |
Tidiennit |
20,000 |
|
Phosphate |
OCP |
Khourigba, 120km south Casablanca |
19m. (expansion to 24.5m. underway with 3 new
mines) |
24.8m.; down from 27.8m. in 2007 |
|
|
Ben Guérir, |
|
|
40 miles north Marrakesh |
3.1m. (expansion to |
|
|
4.5m. tpa underway) |
|
|
|
|
|
Boucraa Laayoune, 50km south-est Laayoune |
2.4m. |
|
|
|
Youssoufia, 230km from Casablanca |
1.2m. |
|
Salt |
Société de Sel de Mohammedia (SSM)
[Bureau de Recherches et de Participations
Minières (BRPM), 100%]] |
Aîn Tekki, Mohammedia |
226,500 |
|
Tunisia |
|
|
|
|
Phosphate |
Compagnie des Phosphates de Gafsa (CPG, 100%
state-owned) |
Kef Edour, Kef Eschfair, Jallabia, Redeyef |
7-8m. |
7.6m. |
Phosphoric acid |
Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT, 100% state-owned) |
Ghannouch, near Gabes |
470,000 |
1.4m. (2007) |
Gypsum |
Les Plâtres Tunisiens (Knauf Gips KG of
Germany) |
Maknassy |
100,000 |
157,000 (2007) |
Western Sahara |
|
|
|
Phosphate (2m. tonnes) |
Phosphates de Boucraa SA (65% part of OCP) |
Open pit mine, Boucraa mining center |
2m. |
2m. |
Source: USGS, IFA, Ministry of
Mines Morocco
North Africas top
cement producers
Country (prod. in tonnes in 2007) |
Company |
Location |
Capacity (tpa) |
Algeria (15.9m) |
|
|
|
Algerian Cement Co |
MSila |
5m. |
|
Ciment Blanc dAlgérie SpA |
Oggaz, Mascara Province |
2.5m. |
Egypt (29m.) |
|
|
|
Cemex Egypt |
Assiut |
5m. |
|
National Cement Co. |
El Tabin |
4m. |
|
Suez Cement Co. (Ciment Français SA,
54.2%) |
Suez |
3m. |
|
Arab Swiss Engineering Co. (ASEC, Suez Cement Co.,
68.7%) |
Helwan |
2.8m. |
Libya (6m.) |
|
|
|
Arab Union Contracting Co. |
Zliten |
1.4m. |
|
Ahlia Cement Co. |
Lebda, Tripoli, Zliten |
3m. |
|
Libyan Cement Co. |
Derna |
2m. |
Mauritania (545,000
tonnes) |
|
|
Ciment de Mauritanie |
Nouakchott |
545,000 |
Morocco (12m.) |
|
|
|
Asment de Temara (Cementos de Portugal, 57.4%) |
Temara |
845,000 |
|
Lafarge Ciments SA |
Douar Laaouameur, Meknes,Tetouan, Tangier |
4.05m. |
|
Holcim (Maroc) SA |
Oujda, Settat |
3.9m. |
|
Ciments du Maroc SA (CIMAR) |
Agadir, Marrakech, Safi |
3.72m. |
Sudan (330,000) |
|
|
|
Al-Rahji Group |
Atbara, Rabak |
550,000 |
Tunisia (7.3m.) |
|
|
|
Société des Ciments dEnfidha |
Enfidha |
2m. |
|
Société des Ciments de Jbel Oust (owned
by Cimentos de Portugal SGPS SA) |
Jbel Oust |
1.6m. |
Source: USGS