• COUNTRY IN FOCUS
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Supplied HE Jarr Ould Inalla
Mauritanian Investment Promotion Agency
1 . Ambassador of Mauritania to the Republic of South Africa , his excellency Jarr Ould Inalla .
2 . 30MW Wind Energy Station in Nouakchott .
Mauritanian Investment Promotion Agency covered by sand dunes , is characterised by a vast peneplain studded with inselbergs over the folded belts .”
Iron ore – mainstay of the country He notes , “ The iron ore industry dominates economic activities and the country has one of the longest iron ore train rails in the world , from the mines to the port . The reserves of iron ore in Mauritania have been estimated at about two billion tons , with average grades of 64 % Fe . The iron ore is developed as hematite lenses in Proterozoic banded iron formations ( BIF ) at FʻDérik-Segazou , Rouessa and Tazadit hills .” The partly state owned , National Industrial and Mining Company , SNIM , is the second largest African producer of iron ore and an important contributor to Mauritania ´ s economy .
Copper Steenkamp says , “ The Akjoujt copper deposit is located approximately 250km northeast of Nouakchott and consists of a 1 000m long and up to 250m wide lens-shaped copper-bearing carbonate body occurring on top of two hills , referred to as the west and east Moghrein Guelbs . At a depth of 40m , the supergene mineralisation consists of cuprite , tenorite , malachite and azurite .” HE Jarr Ould Inalla expands on this , noting , “ The country has a potential of 28Mt of copper .”
Heightened exploration He points out that exploration in Mauritania has increased noticeably in recent years and has led to the discovery of a wide list of resources such as phosphate , which Steenkamp adds has been identified at Bofal and Loubboira in southern Mauritania and is estimated to contain between 120-150Mt of phosphate rock with an average grade of 20 % P 2
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The mineral train , among the longest in the world , approximately 2km long .
Over and above this , Mauritania is looking to exploit other resources like gypsum , uranium peet , salt , quartz , diamonds , chromium , magnesium , lead , platinum , rare earth and black earth minerals and gas , recently discovered at the border between Mauritania and Senegal , says HE Jarr Ould Inalla .
New developments in gas In December 2018 , Mauritania and Senegal reached a Final Investment Decision with energy companies BP , Kosmos Energy and National Oil Companies Petrosen and SMHPM for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project , which is expected to generate USD19- billion in government revenues over the next three decades . 7 It is an offshore liquefied natural gas ( LNG ) project based on upstream gas production in 2km-deep waters on the maritime border of Mauritania and Senegal , and is the deepest offshore project in Africa to date .
Supporting the investor HE Jarr Ould Inalla notes , “ The government is working tirelessly to attract and support investors by creating numerous incentives and having taken measures over the past 4-5 years to facilitate the entrance of investors through the Investment Code .” This includes facilitating the ease of obtaining a visa on entrance to the country on arrival at the airport . He emphasises , “ The government has created an attractive ‘ code of investment ’ that provides security rights and liberties to companies investing in Mauritania .
“ A one-stop-shop has been set up to streamline administration for investors , while security rights , property protection , judiciary tax and customs stability are guaranteed by the code . Security of foreign currency and capital transfer is assured . Equal treatment of all companies , access to raw materials and freedom to employ expatriate staff is also secured . There are also some taxes and duties that can be wavered by the government , such as custom taxes – usually wavered for small and medium enterprises .”
Licences and contracts The exploration and exploitation of minerals and trading in Mauritania ’ s mining sector is managed by SNIM ( 78 % government owned , with the balance owned by Arab financial and mining organisations ), 8 while the Ministry of Petroleum , Mines and Energy grants mining and oil licenses and manages the mining and petroleum cadastres , with the government having established a new mining cadastre in 2019 . 9
The procedure for granting mining licenses is regulated by the Mining Code . While oil and gas exploration and production contracts are in principle concluded following a competitive
14 • African Mining • January 2023 www . africanmining . co . za