Gov’t keen to ramp up mineral exploration, says Kharabsheh 

AMMAN — Beyond just phosphate and potash, the government is keen to utilise all minerals in Jordan, said Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Kharabsheh on Saturday during an event at the “A Year of Modernisation” forum.

During a session titled "High value industries – mining", Kharabsheh highlighted the “pivotal” role of the mining sector in Jordan’s economic growth.  

He noted that the industry will ramp up the exploitation of mineral resources in the near future, particularly since Jordan is part of the Arabian-Nubian Shield, one of the world's wealthiest regions in terms of mineral wealth.

The ministry has started preparing the National Mining Strategy along with geological surveys, and has begun to identify various geological structures. Further, the ministry has started drilling 21 wells with the aim of collecting and analysing samples, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The ministry has also signed 13 memoranda of understanding for the exploration of copper, gold, lithium, phosphate, potash rock and rare elements since the beginning of last year, Kharabsheh added.

For his part, Arab Potash Company CEO Maen Nsour, stressed that energy and water security, laws, institutional regulations, infrastructure, logistics, a unified database, scientific research, development, innovation, human capital and global distribution networks are all necessary to ensure access at all levels of supply chains.

CEO of the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company Abdulwahab Ruwad announced that the company achieved a record rate of phosphate production at 11.3 million tonnes.

The company also produces 1,310 tonnes of phosphoric acid per day, which is used as an intermediary product for fertiliser, animal feed, chemical detergents, Ruwad said.