The Egyptian Black Sand Company (EBSC) is set to complete the assessment of the technical proposals submitted by companies as part of the tender posed by the company to supply drilling equipment for a new project in Borollos, Kafr El-Sheikh, by next month.
A source at the company said that several international companies bought the requirements brochure, including Australian, Canadian, Chinese, US-American, and Dutch companies. According to the timetable of the tender, financial specifications will be presented by the end of next month. The best offer will be awarded the contract by mid-May.
The source explained that the EBSC signed a 20-year usufruct agreement with the Kafr El-Sheikh governorate for 50,000 feddans (51,890 acres) of land designated for establishing a black sand separation plant.
Moreover, the source noted that shareholders paid EGP 250m for the project, adding that the remaining sums will be raised in the coming period to pay for construction and equipment.
The EBSC was founded in February 2013 with a capital of EGP 1bn, and its board of directors includes a chairperson and eight members. The shareholders include five members of the National Service Products Organisation (NASPO) with a 61% share, as well as one member from the Nuclear Materials Authority of Egypt with a 15% share, one member of the National Investment Bank with 12%, one member from the Kafr El-Sheikh governorate with 10%, and one member from the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority with 2%.
The extraction of economic minerals from the black sand in Borollos is a major project with huge expected revenues.
Sand is pulled up and processed to extract six minerals: ilmenite, magnetite, rutile, zircon, garnet and monazite. These minerals are bases for 100 types of basic, medium, and high technology industries, including ceramics, paints, high-quality water purification and treatment devices, advanced military industries, and transportation.
