Dr. contract Mustafa MadboulyThe Prime Minister held a meeting today at the government headquarters in the New Administrative Capital, to review efforts to maximize the use of mining and quarry raw materials available in Egypt, with a focus on rare metals, in the presence of Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel Al-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport, Engineer Karim Badawy, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Major General Sherif Al-Rashidi, Head of the Industrial Affairs Sector at the Ministry of Industry, and Engineer Ahmed Anwar, Director of the Mining and Marble Industries Technology Center at the Ministry of Industry.
The Prime Minister stressed that the Egyptian state is working to develop a comprehensive national strategy to benefit from rare minerals, noting that the directives of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi aim to maximize the benefit from these riches with industrial and economic returns, as they are a basic pillar for the localization of advanced industries and clean energy technology. He added that the goal is not limited to exploration only, but also includes transforming Egypt into a regional center for processing and manufacturing these raw materials, to raise their added value, thus contributing to strengthening the national economy and ensuring a sustainable future for future generations.
Counselor Mohamed Al-Homsani, the official spokesman for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, stated that the meeting addressed the themes of the proposed national strategy, which includes conducting comprehensive geological surveys to determine the available mineral elements, creating partnerships to import quantities of metals used in strategic industries, and expanding the rare metals processing and refining sector, with the aim of transforming Egypt into a regional center for processing and manufacturing.
The meeting also reviewed the aspects of organizing research, detection and geological evaluation of rare ores, and preparing the environment to attract foreign investments by setting incentives for investors according to production, operation and development standards, in addition to efforts to make geological data available through the “Digital Platform for Mining” project, and localizing mining industries to maximize added value, as well as intensifying training programs to qualify national cadres to work in this vital sector.
Al-Homsani referred to the study prepared by the Ministry of Industry on evaluating the use of mining and quarry raw materials in Egypt, explaining that these raw materials constitute the basic foundation of the industry, because they contain minerals and elements with unique properties, which are the basis for many strategic industries such as chemical, agricultural, and mining. He added that the study aims to measure the impact of these raw materials on the industrial sector and maximize their added value, in line with the global trend of mining as an integrated industry that goes beyond extraction to manufacturing and establishing advanced manufacturing industries.
The study addressed the concentration locations of raw materials, their confirmed and unconfirmed quantities, the most important industries based on them, the value of exports and imports, global growth rates, current challenges, and manufacturing processes, leading to the proposed implementation plan to maximize the use of these national resources. The efforts of the Egyptian General Authority for Mineral Resources and the Ministry of Industry in supporting national factories, solving the challenges of the quarrying sector, especially marble and granite, and increasing exports of this strategic sector were also reviewed.
