ALGIERS – Thursday, 21 December 2023 (APS) – Minister of Energy and Mines Mohamed Arkab affirmed Thursday, in Algiers, that the artisanal gold mining is a priority for the sector, in order to tap into this resource while enabling the southern provinces’ young people to contribute to the diversification of the national economy and increase the economic activities’ added value.
In a reply to a question on the delay in the granting of artisanal gold mining licenses to cooperatives belonging to young people in the province of Bordj Badji Mokhtar, in a plenary session in the Council of the Nation devoted to oral questions and chaired by the deputy-president Mohamed Réda Ousahla, the minister said that “this activity is one of our ministerial department’s priorities as part of the sustainable development of this resource to enable the southern provinces’ citizens to contribute to the diversification of the national economy and increase the added value of the economic activities.”
In his response to the question of senator Ibrahim Akadi of the National Democratic Rally (RND), Arkab said the sector continues its efforts to find gold deposits in the province, stressing that the ministry made sure to meet all the conditions enabling the execution of projects of young people interested in this mining activity.
The minister said that “the areas with gold concentrations in the province of Bordj Badji Mokhtar are being listed, so that micro-enterprises could exploit them effectively and profitably, with the implementation of a supplementary exploration program.”
He underlined that the National Agency for Mining Activities (ANAM) has taken the necessary steps to find gold deposits in the province of Bordj Badji Mokhtar, through mining exploration works, entrusted to the National Office for Mining and Geological Research (ORGM).