Eight minerals. Every one of them available from Arab Belt origins. Every one of them in surging demand from solar, EV, green steel, fertilizer, and semiconductor industries globally.
Phosphate Rock
Ca₅(PO₄)₃ · BPL 68–72%
The foundation of global fertilizer supply. No phosphate = no food production at scale. Saudi Ma'aden and Egypt Safaga are top-10 global producers. Algeria's integrated phosphate program targets 10M MT/yr extraction by 2027. Also critical for LFP lithium-iron-phosphate batteries — the dominant EV battery chemistry in 2026.
FOB price range
$70–110/MT
Typical lot
10,000–50,000 MT
🇸🇦 Al-Jalamid (Ma'aden)
🇪🇬 Safaga · Abu Tartur
🇩🇿 Bled El Hadba
Energy transition relevance: LFP batteries + food security · 92%
Iron Ore
Fe₂O₃ · Fe 58–67%
Algeria's Gara Djebilet — 3.5 billion tonnes, 58.67% Fe — began production in February 2026. Second largest iron reserve on earth. Green steel (hydrogen-based DRI) requires high-grade iron ore pellets — exactly what Gara Djebilet is designed to produce. The EU's green steel mandate creates an enormous new demand signal for non-Chinese iron ore.
FOB price range
$95–115/MT
Typical lot
25,000–80,000 MT
Form
Fines · Pellets · Lump
🇩🇿 Gara Djebilet (live 2026)
🇩🇿 Ouenza (active)
🇪🇬 Aswan · Bahariya
Energy transition relevance: green steel via hydrogen DRI · 85%
Copper
Cu · Grade 99.9% cathode / concentrate
Copper is the single most important mineral for the energy transition — every EV uses 4× more copper than an ICE vehicle, every solar panel needs it, every wind turbine needs it. Saudi Arabia's Jabal Sayid mine (Ma'aden + Barrick Gold JV) is active. New discoveries in Najran region 2025–2026 suggest 11M+ tonnes of resources. "Copper is the biggest metal in scope at the moment" — Saudi Vice Minister of Mining at PDAC 2025.
Cathode price
$8,800–9,400/MT
Concentrate
$1,200–1,600/DMT
Key grade
Cu 99.9% (cathode)
🇸🇦 Jabal Sayid (Ma'aden/Barrick)
🇸🇦 Khnaiguiyah project
🇸🇦 Najran (2025 discovery)
Energy transition relevance: EVs, solar, wind, grid · 98%
Zinc
Zn · Concentrate 50–55% / SHG 99.99%
Algeria's Oued Amizour project — 53 million tonnes at 5.3% zinc — is under construction with a $336M EPC contract awarded to Sinosteel. Annual production of 170,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate expected from 2026–2027. Zinc-air batteries are emerging as a low-cost grid storage solution. Galvanizing steel for solar structures, offshore wind towers, and EV infrastructure is a massive and growing demand source.
SHG zinc price
$2,600–2,900/MT
Concentrate
TC basis ~$180/DMT
Annual output
170,000 MT/yr (DZ)
🇩🇿 Oued Amizour (Béjaïa)
🇩🇿 El-Abed · Tlemcen
🇸🇦 Khnaiguiyah Zn-Cu
Energy transition relevance: grid storage, galvanizing solar/wind · 78%
Silica Sand
SiO₂ · Purity 99.5–99.9%
Ultra-pure silica sand is the raw material for solar panel glass — and demand is exploding with the global solar build-out. Egypt's Eastern Desert holds some of the world's purest silica deposits. Every gigawatt of solar capacity requires thousands of tonnes of high-purity silica glass. Egypt already exports silica sand and is investing in the Black Sand Minerals Complex for downstream processing. Also critical for semiconductor manufacturing and fiber optic cables.
Solar grade purity
SiO₂ ≥ 99.5%
Typical lot
5,000–20,000 MT
Key market
China · EU · India
🇪🇬 Eastern Desert deposits
🇪🇬 Black Sand Complex (Burullus)
🇸🇦 Arabian Shield quartz
Energy transition relevance: solar glass, semiconductors, fiber · 90%
Gold
Au · 999.9 fine / doré bars
Saudi Arabia holds an estimated 67 million ounces of gold reserves across 691 exploration sites — and Vision 2030 targets tripling production. Egypt's Eastern Desert (Golden Triangle) is one of the oldest gold-mining regions in the world with active modern mines. Algeria has significant gold deposits at Tirek Amesmessa and Zita with a new tender launched in 2025. Gold also serves critical electronics functions — connectors, semiconductors, and medical devices.
Spot price (May 2026)
~$3,200/oz
KSA reserves
67M oz identified
🇸🇦 Ad Duwayhi · Mansourah
🇪🇬 Sukari · Hamama (Eastern Desert)
🇩🇿 Tirek · Amesmessa · Zita
Energy transition relevance: electronics, connectors, reserve asset · 65%
Kaolin
Al₂Si₂O₅(OH)₄ · Brightness 80–92 ISO
Egypt's Eastern Desert kaolin deposits serve the ceramics, paper, rubber, and paint industries across Europe. UNCTAD flags kaolin as highly critical for Africa while Europe has constrained supply — positioning Egypt as a natural supplier for EU industrial needs under the Critical Raw Materials Act. Used in paper coatings, ceramics manufacturing, rubber compounding, and increasingly in advanced battery separators.
Key buyers
EU ceramics · Paper
🇪🇬 Eastern Desert (Aswan area)
🇪🇬 Sinai Peninsula
🇸🇦 Arabian Shield clays
Energy transition relevance: battery separators, ceramics, electronics · 55%
Barite
BaSO₄ · SG 4.1–4.4 g/cm³
Algeria's primary barite exports serve the global oil and gas drilling industry — barite is the key weighting agent in drilling mud and is required for every oil and gas well drilled worldwide. With NEOM and GCC energy projects driving new drilling activity, demand is strong. Also used in radiation shielding for medical and nuclear applications. Algeria holds significant barite reserves and is a consistent exporter to European and MENA oil service companies.
API spec grade
SG ≥ 4.2 g/cm³
Typical lot
2,000–10,000 MT
Key buyers
Oil service companies
🇩🇿 Hammam N'Bails · M'Zila
🇸🇦 Arabian Shield deposits
🇪🇬 Eastern Desert
Energy transition relevance: drilling infrastructure, radiation shielding · 40%