On Wednesday, the Ministry of Industry listed the achievements of the Geological Survey Authority affiliated with the ministry during the year, confirming the completion of 42 exploration and investment projects.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Dhuha Al-Jubouri, said, “The Authority has completed 22 geological survey and exploratory mineral exploration projects that were funded from investment budget allocations, and carried out geological surveys covering an area of 2,070 km2 with the aim of evaluating natural resources.”
She added, “Among the achievements, limestone suitable for cement production was investigated in an amount of up to 400 million tons, and 4,662 meters of specialized wells were drilled to study geological formations.”
She added, “The geological map of the Talul Abu Sudair area has been updated at a scale of 1:100,000.”
She pointed out that, “within the projects to support the national industry, 14 executive projects were completed to support investors in the mining sector and develop reserves of limestone rocks suitable for the cement industry in various locations such as the Nineveh and Najaf governorates,” noting, “the investigation of sand suitable for the glass industry and raw materials for building materials.”
She explained, “The quarries were allocated for raw materials needed for industries and to improve the accuracy of resource reserves.”
Al-Jubouri explained that, “within the research and development achievements, 6 research projects were completed that aim to improve the exploitation of natural resources, and 27 reports and scientific research were prepared and published in the Authority’s library and scientific journals.”
“Nano-materials were prepared from kaolin clays for high-performance ceramic applications, and methods were developed to purify the raw materials using modern technologies such as ultrasound and microwaves,” she continued, adding, “The impact of climate change on sand dunes was studied and data was analyzed using remote sensing techniques.”
