21 December, 2022

Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has signed since the beginning of this year 7 memorandums of understanding (MoU) in an effort expressed recently by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr.Saleh Kharabsheh, “to place Jordan strongly on the regional and even global mining map.”

This endeavor responds to efforts to restore momentum to the sector, which the vision of economic modernization defined as having high industrial value, and work is underway to double its contribution to the GDP, according to Kharabsheh.

The Minister stressed the importance of the sector in providing the national economy with additional value and expanding job opportunities, which contributes to achieve sustainable development.

Regarding the details of these memorandums, Kharabsheh says that the include a memorandum for explore rare earth elements in the south of the Kingdom, signed with the “New Environmental Elements Company” on Jan.12,2022.

Regarding the initial results of this memorandum, Kharabsheh said that the company has completed drilling a total of 12 wells with the aim of collecting and analyzing samples, and the database for the project was built to include exploration data of the Ministry.

Remote sensing studies have also been completed, which help in determining the hopeful ranges, and geological survey studies have been started to determine the different geological structures, and a stage of drilling new wells is being planned.

With regard to the two memorandums of understanding signed with the Turkish “Solvest Trade and Industry Limited Company” in April 2022 to explore copper ore and associated minerals in the southern region’s Ghor Fifa and Wadi Abu Khashiba., Kharabsheh said that 4 hopeful areas have been identified based on old studies.

Regarding the memorandum of understanding for copper exploration in Dana region signed with the “Jordanian Integrated Company” which signed on June 5, 2022, Minister Kharabsheh said that the company has contracted with a consulting partner, and a detailed work plan will be built and exploration work will begin soon.

Minister Kharabsheh indicated that the ministry, with the aim of developing a map to provide opportunities for investors wishing to invest in the field of mining, signed a MoU with Tajanos Company on April 21, 2022, for a period of 24 months, to draw up a map that identifies the most important minerals that can be invested in.

Kharabsheh referred to the two recently signed MoUs with Arab Mining Company to explore gold in an area of 50 square km in the Jabal Mubarak region and to explore lithium in an area of 35 square km in Wadi Araba’s Finan area.