Mines and key sites Khouribga OCP's first mine opened in Khouribga in 1921. The
Khouribga area has the richest phosphate deposits in the world. In 2014, a
slurry pipeline between Khouribga and
Jorf Lasfar was launched, which transports phosphate from the mines to the processing facility safely and efficiently. The pipeline, one world's longest
gravity powered pipelines saves more than 3
Mm3 of water per year, as well as a significant amount of energy. The site employs more people than any other OCP mine, which is more than 6,100 people. In 1994, the OCP Group started a new mining project in Sidi Chennane in the Khouribga area. The construction of the purified phosphoric acid plant was launched in Jorf Lasfar in 1996 and started production in 1998. In 2014, the OCP Group inaugurated the slurry pipeline linking Khouribga to Jorf Lasfar, a technological advancement in the transportation of phosphates. In February 2016, a fertilizer production plant dedicated entirely to Africa was inaugurated at Jorf Lasfar, the African Fertilizer Complex. Connected to the slurry pipeline, JFC 4 will be fully integrated and have its own thermoelectric plant. These plants not only make Jorf Lasfar completely energy self-sufficient, they also create an energy surplus that fuels the complex's sea water
desalination station.
Gantour (Benguerir and Youssoufia) Gantour is made up of two mining facilities,
Benguerir and
Youssoufia and holds the second largest amount of Morocco's phosphate reserves, 37% of the total. The mine in Benguerir opened in 1980. It is situated 70 km north of
Marrakesh. In 2016, the mines' produced 6.3MT of
Phosphate Rock, representing 23% of the group's total output. Rock from Benguerir is transported by rail to
Safi by
ONCF, the national railway company of Morocco. The Group's activities are organised into an integrated model covering all operations of the value chain from the extraction of phosphates to the production and marketing of various products including fertilizers and phosphoric acid. The mine in Youssoufia is the second most important mine to the Moroccan economy after the Khouribga mine. It is also the third biggest producer worldwide of phosphate. Since 1998, OCP has also operated the
Bouchane mine, which is situated 40 km from Youssoufia. The phosphate from this mine is also processed at Youssoufia.
Jorf Lasfar The Jorf Lasfar processing platform is the largest fertilizer complex in the world. The first phase of the site opened in 1984 and has been expanded multiple times since. Products are made using phosphate rock mined in Khouribga. The site produced 4.63Mt of fertilizer in 2016, including, 1.86Mt
Phosphoric acid, 1.91Mt
MAP, and 1.14Mt
DAP. Over 30 different types of fertilizer were produced to suit various
soil types. The complex is made up of several units including the newest, the Africa fertilizer complex and JFC II. As a result, several funds have disinvested from buyers of phosphates mined by Phosboucraa, and exports have dropped. Operations at the mine originally began in 1972; its activities include mining, processing and marketing phosphate rock. Boucraa mine represents approximately 2% of Morocco's total phosphate reserves, 4.6% of OCP Group's total revenue and around 8% of the total rock extracted. 100% of profits made in the region are reinvested in the local community through the Phosboucraa Foundation. The Phosboucraa Foundation has so far helped more the 50,000 people through its various programs in education, health, and entrepreneurship. Phosboucraa says that the project will continue a policy of hiring local workers, which they say make up 76% of the workforce, up from just 4% in 1976, achieved through outreach and training programs, and which have also led to hundreds of workers being trained to do skilled work at the groups site in the North. The numbers published by Phosboucraa, however, are disputed by local activists, including Western Sahara Research Watch, which notes that the designation of "local workers" doesn't distinguish between
settlers and
indigenous people. == Products ==