Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has awarded Jacobs Engineering Group (Jacobs) a front end engineering design (FEED) contract for the Umm Wual Phosphate city project in Saudi Arabia
US-based Jacobs will also provide a bankable feasibility study for Ma'aden's Umm Wu'al Phosphate Project which is located in the Sirhan-Turaif region of Saudi Arabia. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
Jacobs Group vice president Mike Coyle said, "This is a significant project in Ma'aden's commitment to grow its production capacity within Saudi Arabia. We look forward to working with Ma'aden to support its growth objectives."
The overall project requires a power distribution plant and associated infrastructure but will use the existing port and rail infrastructure put in place by the government.
The city will have an open pit mine and beneficiation process, adding approximately 1.5 million metric tonnes to Ma'aden's planned annual phosphate capacity, which is expected to be marketed locally and internationally.
In addition to the new phosphoric acid (MGA) production, the project will supply phosphate intermediate products, including purified phosphoric acid, sodium tri-poly-phosphate, mono-calcium phosphate and di-calcium phosphate. These new products will help Ma'aden's increase its phosphate product mix.
