16th Arab Steel Summit continues to address the important issues of the sector

Mr Reda Belhadj, Assistant General Manager of FERAAL, delivered the first speech in the session.

In his speech, Mr. Reda Belhadj spoke about the Gâra Djebilet iron ore mine, located in the Tindouf Province in western Algeria, which became operational in July 2022 and represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in the world.

On 15 June 1972, Morocco and Algeria signed a joint agreement for the development of the mine. This agreement provided for the exploitation of the Algerian mine and the transport of iron through Morocco via access to the ocean, but this agreement was not followed up.

On 12 March 2017, the National Iron and Steel Company (Feraal) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese company Sinosteel Equipment & Engineering to conduct feasibility studies for the development of the deposit. The contract also includes Chinese research centres to conduct phosphorus removal and beneficiation tests in four different processes. Algerian laboratories achieved a phosphorus removal rate of approximately 0.1 per cent in 2015

The Gâra Djebilet deposit covers an area of 131 km2 (51 sq mi) and its operable reserves are estimated at 2 billion tonnes of ore with an iron content of 58.57%.

Recently, a Chinese consortium led by MCC International proposed a special process using 100% Gara Djebilet ore to produce semi-finished products. Phosphorus removal was planned to be carried out at the smelting stage.

In his speech, Mr. Reda Belhadj said, "A project in partnership with TOSYALI Algeria for the realisation of a 1MT/year concentrate production unit at Bechar is nearing completion. In order to realise the exploitation and development of the Gara Djebilet Iron Ore Deposit, the Algerian Government has agreed to increase the extraction project to 50MT/year from 2040 onwards, for the production of crates, pellets, PDRI and semi-finished products."

He added that the Gâra Djebilet mine started in 2022 and is planned to produce 2 to 3 million tonnes of ore per year in the first phase (2022-2025) and 40 to 50 million tonnes per year from 2026.

"FERAAL Spa will continue to examine all possibilities for the exploitation of the Gâra Djebilet ore, according to technological developments and the opportunities offered by the markets," he concluded.