The Egyptian Black Sand Company (EBSC) has submitted a request to the cabinet about exempting equipments necessary for the black sand factory from customs and taxes. Major general Ashraf Soltan, chairperson of the company, said that the project to extract economic minerals from the black sand in the Borollos area in Kafr El-Sheikh is one of the major projects that will achieve a great return for the state. He added that the equipment should be exempted from taxes and customs, as it happened with Siemens. He noted that the technical evaluation of the limited tender issued for the supply of equipments for digging at the site has been completed and that the winning companies would be announced at the end of the month. Moreover, he explained that shareholders paid EGP 300m of the issued capital. 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%. Soltan said that the company will hold a board of directors meeting next week to agree with shareholders to pay 10-15% of the value of the contract to be signed with the company that wins the contract to supply the machinery and the equipment necessary for the black sand factory. He pointed out that the company is not facing an issue in securing hard cash, especially as NASPO stressed its support to national and development projects in Egypt, and as one of the shareholders will coordinate with the concerned parties to ensure the project is not hindered. Soltan said that 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, stating that they would 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 El-Sheikh. The company is also in talks with the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation to provide water to the plant. According to a study prepared by the Australian Mineral Technology Company, the cost of establishing a factory will amount to $120m, while annual operation costs will reach $45m, with net surplus and profit after tax estimated at $45m.
