The Tirek and Amesmassa gold mines, located in the province of Tamanrasset, will be reopened in 2026. This was announced by Belkacem Soltani, CEO of the industrial mining group Sonarem.
In statements reported on Tuesday by national television, Soltania said that to this end, a national and international call for tenders was launched on the 1st of this month for companies specialising in the exploration, exploitation and development of gold deposits with proven experience in the field.
A call for tenders launched
The objective is to create a joint-stock company, 51% of whose shares would be held by the Sonarem group, while the remaining 49% would go to a foreign or local partner, in accordance with the provisions of the new mining law.
According to the same official, the project includes ‘the confirmation of existing gold resources in the two mines, the discovery of new resources, as well as the sustainable exploitation and processing of gold ore and its extraction from tailings, in addition to the exploration of the intermediate zone, known as “Zeta”, and the recovery of waste from mining activities,’ explains Soltani.
Recovering mining resources
He indicated that the approach is part of “the sector’s initiative to attract national and foreign partners who can contribute their experience in the field to enhance mining resources and strengthen gold mining in southern Algeria, which is considered a promising hub for mineral wealth and an area conducive to long-term investment.
The same official emphasised that the exploitation of the two mines ‘will contribute to the promotion of the gold sector in Algeria by increasing production capacity and strengthening reserves, as well as creating new jobs for the region’s inhabitants and supporting local economic development’.
7 tonnes of gold extracted between 2001 and 2013
He recalled that the gold mining company ‘Inor’ (a subsidiary of Sonarem) had extracted more than 7 tonnes of gold ore between 2001 and 2013 from the two mines at a depth of 60 metres.
He stressed that current technical data showed that ‘most of the deposit is located at a depth of about 400 metres, which requires a switch to underground mining requiring greater capacity, especially as initial estimates indicate reserves of close to 60 tonnes of gold worth more than $4 billion.’
Covering a total area of 140,800 hectares, the Tirek and Amesmassa gold mines suspended operations in 2013. More than 400 kg of gold have been extracted since 2022 across the country, the CEO of Sonarem added.
187 small businesses active in this field in Algeria
In this context, the official also stated that the group “is working to diversify its projects in the gold sector and expand them over the next few years, offering an attractive environment for foreign investment, which will gradually increase national production, with a focus on the south, considered a region rich in mining resources of strategic importance.
On the other hand, Soltani specified that ‘187 small companies are currently active in this field,’ adding that ‘during 2025, five licences were issued to these companies.’
In addition, to further regulate this activity, the Sonarem group plans to open three processing centres in Ain Guezzam, Tamanrasset and Djanet, which will be directly responsible for collecting the gold extracted by artisans, thus ensuring the transparency of transactions, as part of a comprehensive national strategy aimed at structuring the gold sector and promoting it in a sustainable manner.
