Djibouti, March 3, 2012 (SL Times) – The Government of the Republic of Djibouti is said to have begun a pre-qualification process to select contractors for the construction of a new port at Tadjoura. The Djibouti Ports and Free Zone Authority will be organizing the construction of the new port where it plans to build and operate marine civil facilities and common services. The port will initially allow for a 30 hectare yard and a 435 meter quay. Financing is expected from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and from the Saudi Fund for Development.

The construction of a new port in Tadjoura will give Djibouti the opportunity to provide increased services for neighboring countries, in particular for the growing needs of Ethiopia virtually all of whose exports and imports pass through Djibouti. Additional facilities at Tadjoura should significantly relieve the congestion that the existing Doraleh and Djibouti ports are facing.

One among many to benefit from a new port at Tadjoura will be a Canadian company engaged in developing a project for production and export of potash, Allana Potash.  The company is developing the extraction of potash at its Dallol potash project, located in the Danakil Depression in the Afar Regional State. It is already working with the Djiboutian authorities to integrate potash storage and handling facilities with the new port plans. Indeed, it is intending to construct its own port terminal at Tadjoura, to provide for product unloading and storage, shipping facilities and supporting infrastructure. These will be incorporated in the plans for the port.

With regards to the necessary infrastructural developments, highway construction by government contractors is underway to connect the Dallol potash region with paved roads to the company’s project development staging facilities in Mekelle and to the southern highway providing access to ports in Djibouti. These will provide sufficient capacity for the export of production, but according to the company, discussions are also going on over the possibility of rail links from the project to the port. Either way, it anticipates that the necessary infrastructure will be in place by the time the project is fully operational.

The company completed a preliminary economic assessment in November last year and it hopes to start project construction by the end of this year. It plans to commence production at Dallol with a yearly output of up to one million tones in the initial stages in 2015, reaching peak production by 2017, with the potential to expand output at the site to reach two million tones of muriate of potash product per year. The President and CEO of Allana Potash, Farhad Abasov, said in a statement that the company was encouraged by the admirable progress made by the Djibouti Government in the ongoing development of the transportation infrastructure: “Allana understands that both the Djibouti and Ethiopian Governments are looking to the strategic Danakil potash resource as one of the catalysts for the development of road, port and rail facilities critical to the continued economic growth within the region.  

According to the company, the economic assessment was based on saturation brine solution mining with a solar evaporation method and exceeded management expectations. This method is possible at Dallol because of the year-round temperatures and the minimal amount of rainfall. The deposits are also at a shallow level so no deep drilling is required, which is another saving. An ongoing feasibility study is due in the third quarter of the year. In the meantime the company is continuing to carry out pilot evaporation pond testing, hydro-geological studies and solution mining test work. Current indications of the measured and indicated resources of the deposits are 673 million tones.

Source: News Agencies

Homeee | Contact usss | Links | Archives | Search