Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has awarded three contracts worth a total of about $2.3bn for its proposed $7bn phosphates mining city, Waad al-Shamal, located in the north of the kingdom.

China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Corporation (HQC) won the beneficiation package in a deal worth $554m. The package involves building the process facilities that separate the phosphates from the surrounding rock after being mined, and will have a capacity of 5.3 million tonnes a year (t/y).

Canada’s SNC Lavalin in a consortium with China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) was awarded the sulphur plant/power and utilities package after a bid of about $762m. The sulphur facility will have a processing capacity of 4.9 million t/y.

MEED reported in December and October respectively that HQC and SNC Lavalin were the frontrunners for the two packages.

South Korea’s Hanwha Engineering & Construction was awarded the $933m phosphoric acid plant package. The plant will have a capacity of 1.5 million t/y.

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 winning bidders will now join South Korea’s Daelim Industrial and Spain’s Intecsa Industrial at Waad al-Shamal.

MEED reported in November that Intecsa had been awarded the process plants that will produce diammonium phosphate (DAP) and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) fertilisers in a deal worth $600m. Daelim was awarded the 1.1 million-t/y, $824m ammonia plant package in July.

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.