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Algeria invites foreign companies to develop gold reserves

9 June 2025

Algeria’s state-owned mining company has invited local and foreign investors to participate in developing the country’s gold reserves and highlighted significant deposits in the south.

Bellacine Soltani, Sonarem’s chief executive, said in a statement that the Tirak and Ammasisa mines in Algeria’s Southern Tamanrasset Province hold more than 60 tonnes of gold.

The two mines have been inactive for more than a decade.

His comments come ahead of a planned vote on new legislation that could permit foreign companies to hold as much as 80% of mining projects.

Algeria’s parliament is due to vote on the legislation on 16 June 2025, a move that could potentially mark a major shift for the nation, where state enterprises have majority control.

The North African country is also looking to streamline the licensing process and trim billions of dollars worth of costly imports, including steel and marble.

Soltani said that opening the doors to small investors and startup entrepreneurs had already enabled Algeria to extract approximately 60,000 tonnes of ore from gold over the past three years, and about 400kg of pure gold.

Soltani said Algeria has 140 million cubic metres of marble reserves and is aiming to exploit these reserves to reduce imports.

Imports of finished and semi-finished marble have cost the public treasury around $290m over the past three years, Soltani said.

According to Soltani, Sonarem owns more than 15 marble and other stone quarries, with an exploitable reserve value reaching 40 million cubic metres.

In 2024, 46 gold extraction licenses were issued to companies in Algeria.

Sonarem’s exports reached $200m last year, the bulk of which came from phosphate exports, which totalled more than $193m.

Algeria is currently implementing an industrial strategy that aims to reduce imports of mining materials, satisfy domestic market needs and increase non-hydrocarbon exports.

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Wil Crisp

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