Prime Minister Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba held an extensive meeting yesterday at his Tripoli Cabinet Office with the Board of Directors of Libya’s National Mining Corporation (NMC). The meeting was dedicated to following up on the NMC’s progress and reviewing its efforts in organising the sector and developing its technical and legal structure, in a way that contributes to maximising the economic return from mineral wealth.
Huge iron ore and phosphate reserves
During the meeting, the NMC gave a detailed presentation on the national stock of mineral resources, noting that Libya has huge reserves of metallic and non-metallic minerals, most notably iron ore in Wadi Al-Shati, which is estimated at 3.5 billion tons with a concentration of up to 55%, in addition to more than one billion tons of phosphate in the Murzuq Basin, which puts Libya in a qualified position to be one of the main sources in North Africa.
Existing gypsum and limestone production – potential for sulphur, gold copper and chromium
The corporation also pointed out that there is an existing production of minerals such as gypsum and limestone used in the construction industries, in addition to promising potential that is still uninvested in the fields of salt, sulphur, and rare materials such as gold, copper and chromium, according to preliminary geological studies.
Need to urgently establish a minerals database
In this context, Aldabaiba stressed the need to accelerate the pace towards building a comprehensive national database for mineral resources, completing administrative and technical reviews of previous licenses, and referring the results to the competent regulatory authorities.
Operational plan for priority projects
The Prime Minister also called for the development of an operational plan for priority projects in coordination with the Ministries of Economy and Planning, and linking the sector to the state’s vision and the “Return of Life” plan, stressing the government’s readiness to provide full support to the NMC at this pivotal stage.
The meeting concluded by stressing the importance of investing in national competencies, and enabling the Corporation to perform its role as a sovereign umbrella to regulate mining activity in Libya according to the principles of transparency and sustainability.
