Jordan has approved a 30-year agreement with Wadi Araba Minerals Company for copper mining in southern Jordan.

The deal grants mining rights over a 25-sq-km area, with the extracted raw materials to be processed locally to maximise national economic returns, the Jordan Times reported, citing an official statement.

The move aims to halt the export of unprocessed copper.

Plans entail setting up a public shareholding company, with a portion to be floated on the local stock exchange, the report said, without providing further details. 

The government revenues from the project will be linked to international copper prices, the newspaper said.

In March, Jordan offered several mining sites to investors in its Southern Aqaba areas.

The country has set an ambitious target to expand the mining sector’s contribution to GDP to nearly JOD 2.1 billion ($2.9 billion) in 2033 from around JOD 700 million ($980 million) in 2024, according to a report by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com) 

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