Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab has announced in the new province of Bani Abbas, the launch of a project to exploit “Qattara” mine in the south-western province to produce manganese.
During a meeting with representatives of the local civil society held on Tuesday as part of his visit to the province, the minister explained that the project of exploiting this mine of manganese in a “Qattara” will be launched soon with the aim of giving impetus to the economic development of this new province by exploiting the mining resources of the region to create jobs and wealth.
“The launch of this mining project, which falls within the context of the exploitation of the iron mine of Ghar Jebailat, in the province of Tindouf, is a very important asset for the development of the province of Bani Abbas,” Mr. Arkab emphasized.
The mining resources of this site are estimated at more than 2,972 million tons, with an average rate of 35 percent of manganese and an iron reserve of 1,047,564 tons.
Qattara mine is rich in manganese minerals, which are made of Bornite, Basilomelan, and Pyrrolysite.
Manganese metal is used at 95 percent in the iron and steel industry, particularly in the form of a metal alloy used for railways and 5 percent in the chemical industries.
This mine, which stretches over an area of 2 km2, was discovered in 1953 and evaluated in 1955, and is located 130 km from Beni Abbas.
The Minister of Energy and Mines also announced during this meeting with civil society the reactivation of the natural gas distribution project for the inhabitants of the municipality of “Egli” as part of the national strategy to generalize this energy, as well as the renewal and modernization of the service station in the provincial capital of the National Company, Naftal.
These decisions were welcomed by the representatives of civil society in this province, which is rich in huge mining, tourism and agricultural capacities that could constitute a factor for its socio-economic development.
