Libya, Egypt & Sudan are considering the possibility of setting up a joint mining fund destined to finance projects in Arab countries and to study the best ways to tap and boost mineral resources.
This project, to be carried out through the Arab league, was at the center of a meeting and discussions held lately in Khartoum between Libyan Industry minister, Suleiman Ali Al-Fitury, Egyptian minister of petroleum & mineral resources, Osama Kamal and Sudanese minerals minister, Kamal Abdullatif.
The three ministers have agreed to bolster cooperation in the fields of mining, energy and natural resources as the three countries share common interests and political willingness to build sound “win-win” partnerships, which can serve as a model and take up worldwide competition in global markets.
The three countries, which sit on huge oil reserves and boast great economic potential, have agreed on exchanging data, making a mineral and investment map, setting up joint teams to analyze the data and reviewing the laws governing the mineral resources and sector.
Libya produces ammonia, gypsum, hydraulic cement, pig iron and raw steel, while Egypt soil is rich in aluminum, ammonia, barite, bentonite, feldspar, ferromanganese, silicomanganese, gypsum, industrial sand, iron ore, kaolin, raw steel, soda ash and vermiculite.
For its part, Sudanese land is rich in mineral resources including iron, cooper, chrome, manganese, and gold, silicon, in addition to lime stone, marble, gypsum, mica, talk, and natural gas. Big international companies and institutions are assisting the country in developing these resources.