On Wednesday, the governor of Sidi Bouzid in Tunisia, Mourad Mahjoubi, told the TAP agency that “the Meknassi phosphate mine would become operational starting from mid-November”. This announcement emerged from a meeting between representatives of ministry of industry and those of Gafsa, the phosphate firm in charge of operating the site.

Extraction at the mine which was closed in 1929 due to the global great economic crisis should have restarted since the first semester of 2015. However, as residents of the region complained about the insufficiency of indemnity provided for their lands, the extraction was delayed.

At the end of the meeting, the respective representatives fixed at 8.7 million Tunisian dinars, the total indemnity that these landowners are to receive.

It should be recalled that the Meknassi can be exploited over 20 years and should produce about 500,000 tons of phosphate average each year.

Stéphanie C. Tohon