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Ammon News - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is studying four offers to extract copper in three areas in the Kingdom's southern region, according to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Saleh Kharabsheh.

In a press interview on Sunday, Kharabsheh said three memoranda of understanding (MoU) will be signed soon, stressing that the ministry will focus on investing in mineral wealths that did "not receive sufficient attention during the past years."

He also announced the future mining operations include gold, industrial potash, phosphates, lithium and other minerals, indicating that surveys conducted previously showed presence of "high" quantities of lithium metal.

Regarding the launch of a project to explore phosphate ore in the Ruwaished area, the minister said the project is "national and will be implemented with Jordanian capabilities," stressing that the initial results of phosphate exploration in the region is "promising."

Work has now begun in an 120 km area, out of 3000 km, he said, explaining that exploration operations are taking place based on previous studies that confirmed the presence of phosphate with commercial quantities.


The minister stressed the importance of using phosphate as a production input for many manufacturing industries, adding that it was not allowed to export raw phosphate from this project.

The minister also stressed the importance of the complementarity of the phosphate project and Risha gas field to establish an industrial complex in the eastern region in the future, expecting the completion of phosphate exploration by the end of next year.

The minister touched on rock potash in the Dead Sea area, which is outside the concession agreement of the Arab Potash Company (APC), and the importance of exploiting the strategic stock of rock potash there, indicating that there are talks with the APC to work on exploiting this important reserve.


To date, the ministry had launched many opportunities to extract strategic minerals such as copper, gold, zircon and rare elements to a group of industrial rocks such as basalt, pure limestone, dolomite, silica sand, and zeolite.

The mining sector contributes about 7.6% of the gross domestic product, and about 19% of the Kingdom's exports. Jordan is a large producer of phosphates, potash, bromine, fertilizers and chemical acids at the world level.