The Egyptian Black Sand Company (EBSC) has decided to task the Military Technical College and the Faculty of Engineering in Kafr El-Sheikh University to undertake the consultancy work for the black sand separation project.
Major general Ashraf Soltan, chairperson of the company, said that the decision was taken to avoid the burdens of contracting with a foreign company, adding that the experts of the Military Technical College and the Faculty of Engineering in Kafr El-Sheikh are able to carry out the consultancy work for the project and set the technical specifications and standards for all construction works.
He explained that both entities will supervise the implementation of the 850-metre long road, next to the paving and reclamation work. They will also participate in the selection of the civil works and infrastructure companies for the project site.
Soltan said that the technical assessment of the limited tender posed to supply the machines and digging equipments for the site has been completed and that they will announce the winning company by 30 June.
Soltan said that the EBSC also presented a request to the Ministry of Electricity to provide a power capacity of 9MW to operate the factory furnaces, dredges, and equipment used in the project and will receive a reply in two weeks.
EBSC had signed a contract with TAQA Petroleum Services Company to supply 1,300 cubic metres of gas per day to the black sand separation plant in Kafr Al-Sheikh. The company is also in talks with the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation to provide water to the plant.
The EBSC was founded in February 2013 with a capital of EGP 1bn; the 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 Kafr El-Sheikh governorate with 10%, and one member from the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority with 2%.
Shareholders of the EBSC include NASPO (61%), NMA (15%), NIB (12%), Kafr El-Sheikh governorate (10%), and EMNA (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 considered 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.
