Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi met with Mohamed El-Zamlout, Governor of the New Valley, at the ministry’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital.

The meeting tackled ways of cooperation and integration to achieve optimal exploitation of the phosphate ores and mineral raw materials in the governorate and maximize their added value within the framework of the ministry’s strategy aimed at maximizing the benefit from mineral resources.

Badawi explained during the meeting that the ministry is intensifying its efforts in all directions to develop the mining sector and bring about a qualitative shift in this vital sector through integrated work to prepare an attractive environment for investment.

The minister highlighted the work on developing methods of contracting with investors and models for exploiting minerals, as successful steps have already been taken in the field of gold mineral exploitation models with major international companies, and that work is progressing significantly on the draft law to transform the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) into an economic authority, which is currently being discussed in Parliament.

Badawi also referred to the ongoing integrated efforts to increase the added value of phosphate ore within the framework of the Ministerial Group for Industrial Development and the current work on an important mechanism regarding the optimal use of phosphate ore in manufacturing processes and not exporting it as raw material in any form, but rather as a high-value industrial product.

For his part, El-Zamlout explained that the governorate is rich in mineral resources, highlighting the importance of maximizing the benefit from the Abu Tartour Phosphate Project in the New Valley Governorate in cooperation with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and the Egyptian Phosphate Company, which operates the project.

The meeting also discussed the natural gas delivery project in the New Valley Governorate, which is the first governorate to which the petroleum sector has delivered gas using the compressed gas system and the virtual line in cooperation with TAQA Arabia Company.