12 billion tons of silica stored in southern Jordan

 Diana Al Nobani 

Jordanian lands store huge amounts of mineral wealth in which investment is estimated at billions of dollars, and among these wealth are silica sands of high purity, which are found in large quantities that stimulate the attraction of foreign and local investments.

Studies have estimated the amount of silica (glass sand) in the Ma’an Governorate in the south of the Kingdom at about 12 billion tons, and it has a very high purity rate, of which the local market consumes 22,000 tons annually.

The uses of glass sand are concentrated in the manufacture of glass, plumbing sand, optics glass, crystal and the manufacture of solar energy systems, which includes 255 products that can replace imported ones.

Silica ores are characterized by international specifications for the production of glass sand used in the production of high-quality glass, in addition to its availability in large quantities, the ease of mining by surface roads and its proximity to roads and the port of Aqaba.

Previous studies, carried out by the Natural Resources Authority, in addition to studies of the Department of Exploration for ores during the period between 1995 - 1998, confirmed the presence of large quantities of silica sand in the areas of Ras Al-Naqab, Qaa Al-Disi, Wadi Al-Siq - Al-Rakia, Al-Jaishiya area, which is located 6 km  to the east of the port of Aqaba, in addition to Petra - Ain Al-Bayda.

This substance is used in the manufacture of glassware, crystal glass, glass panels, fiberglass, optics glass, plumbing molds, polishing materials, and in the manufacture of ceramics and bricks, and water purification filters in wastewater plants and swimming pools, and as a filler and extender in the manufacture of rubber, plastic, paper.  , paints, in a special type of cement, and in various chemical industries, in addition to being a reducing agent for the degree of dissolution of basic oxides in the dissolution processes.

In previous statements, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Dr. Saleh Al-Kharabsheh stressed that Jordan is rich in natural resources that should receive attention in implementation of the royal directives in this regard, and to benefit from them in providing the national economy with added value and raising its contribution to the gross domestic product, providing job opportunities and raising the level of income in  Regions are most in need of it.

In this context, the Mineral Resources Strategy for the year 2025 seeks to raise the contribution of the mining sector to 11 percent of the Gross domestic product, which amounted to 7.7 percent for the year 2019, while it constituted more than 19 percent of total exports.

In order to exploit the mineral wealth, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tajamoul Company for Owning and Establishing Projects to prepare a map of mineral resources to enhance investment opportunities in the Kingdom.

The memorandum came within the framework of the ministry's interest in focusing at the current stage on the exploitation of natural resources and attracting investments to the sector, which constitutes an added value to the Jordanian economy, which requires raising its contribution to the gross domestic product.

Over the course of two years, the company will conduct an electromagnetic survey of the regions of the Kingdom and prepare a map of the mineral resources in the Kingdom, including sites that can be invested in in the field of mining and that will be used for the purposes of future exploration for minerals and natural resources.

The minister pointed out the importance of the memorandum within the framework of the ministry's direction to give the sector its "right" to exploit natural resources and focus on manufacturing industries and attract investments by taking advantage of the technological development witnessed by the global exploration and mining sector.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, in cooperation with the Investment Authority, launched in August 2020 a set of investment opportunities in the mineral and petroleum sector in the Kingdom, after the Ministry identified the hopeful and open areas for investment in the sectors of petroleum, oil shale, mineral wealth and strategic minerals.

The mining sector, with its two parts (extractive industries and manufacturing industries) for 2018, accounted for 7.6 percent of the gross national product, while the mining sector exports accounted for 19.7 percent of the total national exports in 2018.

In this context, the government works to encourage the establishment of extractive and manufacturing industries based on national raw materials.

The ministry has identified 12 of the hoped-for national ores for the purposes of exploration, mining and commercial exploitation in the extractive industries and in the manufacturing industries, based on previous studies on projects for prospecting for mineral resources in Jordan.

A special bulletin was prepared for the most important mineral ores available for exploitation in the investment sector, which includes a description of mineral ores in Jordan, their nature and geological environment, and a review of the most important chemical and physical specifications for these ores related to their industrial uses and estimated geological reserves for each ore in order to confirm its economic potential.

Within the framework of the official interest in the exploitation of mineral resources, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources launched a platform to facilitate the procedures for the investor's journey in mineral resources.  The launch of the platform came within the second batch of government accelerators, and the ministry's belief in the importance of increasing investment in the field of mineral wealth and improving the level of services provided through electronic transformation.

The electronic platform aims to facilitate the procedures of the investor's journey in mineral resources and the interconnection between the concerned authorities to reduce the time and burden needed to obtain the service, dispense with paper documents, and reduce the time to obtain the service.