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Metlaoui

Prospect in Tunisia with commodities Phosphorus-Phosphates, Fluorine-Fluorite
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Host and associated rocks
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  9. Mining district
  10. Ownership information
  11. Links to other databases
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. General comments
  14. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10024682
MRDS ID ISM0416
Record type Site
Current site name Metlaoui
Alternate or previous names Foum-Selja

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 8.40174, 34.48256 (WGS84)
Relative position CENTROID, ABOUT 1 KM

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Tunisia(country)

Geographic areas

Country
Tunisia

Comments on the location information

  • DEPOSIT IS MENTIONED ON 1:500.000 GEOL. MAP OF TUNISIA
  • FROM 1:200,000 MAP. NEAR VILLAGE OF KSOUR

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Phosphorus-Phosphates Primary
Fluorine-Fluorite Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • PHOSPHATE

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Metlaoui Formation;Metlaoui Formation;Metlaoui Formation
    Rock description Metlaoui Formation;Metlaoui Formation;Metlaoui Formation
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Chert

Nearby scientific data

(1) 8.40174, 34.48256
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • ; APATITE, DOLOMITE, CALCITE, QUARTZ, ILLITE, SMECTITE; THANETIAN-YPRESIAN METLAOUI FORMATION CARRIES MAIN PHOSPHATE BEDS. PHOSPHATE LAYERS OF MINOR IMPORTANCE ALSO OCCUR WITHIN MAESTRICHTIAN EL-HARIA FORMATION AND ABOVE METLAOUI FORMATION WITHIN LUTETIAN MARLS. METLAOUI FORMATION IS SUBDIVIDED IN A BASAL EVAPORITIC SEQUENCE, THE MAIN PHOSPHATE SEQUENCE (CONTAINING AT LEAST 4 M OF 54 % BPL ORE) AND A ROOF SEQUENCE WITH PREVAILING LIMESTONES
  • ; PHOSHORITE BEDS (THICKNESS 20-50 M) CONTAINING 26-33 % BPL, BELOW A 50 M THICK COVER OF LIMESTONE IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE DEPOSIT, WHICH IS UNDERSTOOD TO BE DEVELOPED FIRST

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Non-metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1895
Year of last production 1982

Mining district

District name Gafsa Basin

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Compagnie Des Phosphates De Gafsa (Cpg) (State Controlled)

Comments on the production information

  • 700,000 TPY ORE, PLANNED CAPACITY IN 1977PLANNED CAPACITY
  • 700,000 TPY STARTUP CAPACITY, PLANNED (ORE OR CONCENTRATE?) 4.6 MILLION TPY BY 1987 ORE P INS B.640 C.MIL MT D.1981 E.26.2-32.8 % BPL

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • PROBABLE RESERVES. CLASSIFICATION M, REPORTER'S OPINION. (DIFFICULT MINING CONDITION IN OLD WORKINGS) POSSIBLE RESERVES, YEAR OF ESTIMATION UNKNOWN
  • PROVED, YEAR OF ESTIMATION UNKNOWN ORE P INS B.4200000 C.MET TONS E.57 % BPL
  • CLASSIFICATION IN CATEGORY M DUE TO POOR GRADE RR42: KNOWN RESERVES, ESTIMATED OF WHICH ABOUT 50 % ARE AVAILABE THROUGH SURFACE OPERATIONS. POSSIBLY COMPRISING CATEGORIES R2E AND R2S

Comments on development

  • NON-GEOLOGIC CONSTRAINTS ON DEVELOPMENT OR EXPANSION IN 1-5 YRS. (). DEVELOPMENT(UNKNOWN); EXPLORATION(UNKNOWN); ROM-ORE GRADES ABOUT 57 % BPL
  • NON-GEOLOGIC CONSTRAINTS ON DEVELOPMENT OR EXPANSION IN 1-5 YRS. (). EXPLORATION(UNKNOWN); DEPOSIT IS BEING EXPLORED AT PRESENT. FEASIBILITY STUDY IS DUE TO BE CONCLUDED BY 1983. EXPLORATION AND POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT FOR PRODUCTION IS PARTIALLY FINANCED BY LOANS OF A KUWEITIAN BANK

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    CHAABANI, F. 1978: LES PHOSPHORITES DE LA COUPE TYPE DE FOUM SELJA (METLAOUI, TUNISIE), THESIS, UNIVERSITY STRASBOURG

  • Deposit

    BRITISH SULPHUR CORP. LTD., 1980: WORLD SURVEY OF PHOSPHATE DEPOSITS, 4TH ED., LONDON

  • Deposit

    SASSI, S. 1979: CONTEXTE PALEOGEOGRAPHIQUE DES DEPOTS PHOSPHATES DE L'EOCENE EN TUNISIE. DOCUMENTS DU BRGM, NO.24, 1980

  • Production

    PHOSPHORUS & POTASSIUM, NO.90, P.21, 1977

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THIS RECORD WAS COMPILED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC MINERALS INVENTORY. THE DATA WERE USED IN PREPARATION OF THE USGS CIRCULAR 930 SERIES OF REPORTS. MINERAL RESOURCE CATEGORIES AND CODES HEREIN ARE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM RECOMMENDED BY THE UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON DEFINITIONS AND TERMINOLOGY FOR MINERAL RESOURCES. (SEE NATIONAL RESOURCES FORUM, V. 4, NO. 3, P. 307-313.). UNDERGROUND CRUSHING, SCREENING, WASHING IN PLANT NEAR MINE SITE
Deposit THIS RECORD WAS COMPILED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC MINERALS INVENTORY. THE DATA WERE USED IN PREPARATION OF THE USGS CIRCULAR 930 SERIES OF REPORTS. MINERAL RESOURCE CATEGORIES AND CODES HEREIN ARE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM RECOMMENDED BY THE UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON DEFINITIONS AND TERMINOLOGY FOR MINERAL RESOURCES. (SEE NATIONAL RESOURCES FORUM, V. 4, NO. 3, P. 307-313.).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1982 Krauss, Ulrich H. Bundesanstalt Fuer Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffee (Germany)

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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