Egypt has finally given the green light to a consortium of two Chinese companies to build a large phosphoric acid plant at a cost of about $658 million, nearly six years after the first contract was signed.

The North African country's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and state-run Misr Phosphate Company signed the deal with China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and East China Engineering Science and Technology Company (ECEC).

An Egyptian cabinet statement published online said the project is located near Abu Tartur mine in the southwestern New Valley governorate, Egypt's largest province.

The ministry signed a contract in December 2019 with CSCEC for the project in Abu Tartur, home to one of the largest phosphate reserves in Egypt with estimated deposits of around 980 million tonnes, the statement said.

The planned complex is said to be Egypt's largest of its kind, it would use domestically sourced phosphate ore to produce 250,000 tonnes per year of high-grade phosphoric acid in its first phase.

"This is a historic move that will enable us to shift from exporting raw materials to launching an integrated industrial value chain," petroleum and mineral resources minister Karim Badawy said.

“lt symbolises the third pillar of our strategy which outlines maximising returns from mineral wealth.

New Valley's governor Mohammed El Zamlout described the project as a “turning point". The project "will be a key aspect in transforming the region into a strategic hub for mining-based industries," he said.

The 2019 contract, which remained on the shelf, involved a project at a cost of around $842 million and a production capacity of one million tonnes per year.