The Saudi Mauritanian Metals and Steel Company (Takamul – Limited Liability Company) was established. As a joint venture between the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), and the Mauritanian Company for Industry and Mines (SNIM) on December 12 – December 2012.
The company plans to develop the Atomai site, which is rich in iron ores. It is located 30 km west of the city of Zouerate. And 8 kilometers north of Avderik in the state of Tires-Zemmour, located in the north-east of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
The project aims to manufacture high quality iron pellets. Using magnetite ores and by direct reduction technology.
The mine will be of an open type and will work with known mineral extraction methods. It will have a production capacity of 10 million tons per year. Production is expected to start around 2026.
The iron processing stage goes through two factories:
1. A dry and wet processing plant within the Atomae site
2. A plant for converting iron into balls located in the south of the Nouadhibou Peninsula, to the west of the port of the SNIM company.
The two factories are linked by a railway – currently being built – with a length of 640 km owned by SNIM Company. Iron pellets will be exported from the port of SNIM to the Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed), a subsidiary of SABIC, or to other international markets.
The project site is not currently provided with basic infrastructure, such as roads and railways, Although there is a railway system belonging to the SNIM company linking the mineral port of Nouadhibou to the iron extraction sites located near the city of Zouerate, There is a secondary road about 15 km from the site of the Atomai project to the east.
