China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Corporation (HQC) has emerged as the favourite to be awarded the beneficiation package at Saudi Arabian Mining Company’s (Maaden) proposed $7bn phosphates mining city.

The package involves building the process facilities that separate the phosphates from the surrounding rock after being mined. HQC is the lowest bidder for the package and has submitted a price of about $500m.

“There has not been an official announcement yet, but HQC is the definite favourite to be awarded this package,” says an executive working in Saudi Arabia’s metals and mining sector.

If awarded the deal, HQC will join South Korea’s Daelim Industrial and Spain’s Intecsa Industrial as the engineering, procurement and construction contractors on the scheme, which will be built at Waad al-Shamal in the north of the kingdom.

MEED reported in July that Daelim had been awarded the $824m ammonia package for the project. Intecsa will carry out the EPC on the major fertilisers package after securing the $600m contract in November.  

Several other packages are due to be awarded shortly. They include:

• Phosphoric acid
• Sodium tripolyphosphate, purifying phosphoric acid and dicalcium phosphate
• Sulphur, power and utilities

The mining city is being built so Maaden can fully utilise the phosphates from its Al-Khabra mine. The scope of works for the city will include a mining component, as well as eight different processing plants and a utilities and offsites package.

The phosphate produced at Al-Khabra is low in heavy metal content and is ideal for use in food production, as well as fertiliser and animal feed. The measured reserves of the Al-Khabra deposit are estimated to be 236 million tonnes.

In March, Maaden announced it was joining forces with the US’ Mosaic and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) to build the phosphates city. Maaden will retain a 60 per cent stake, with Mosaic and Sabic taking a 25 per cent and 15 per cent stake respectively.