The Minister of State, Minister of Energy, Mines, and Renewable Energies, Mohamed Arkab, on Tuesday reassured landowners who have been expropriated for the benefit of the Amizour-Tala Hamza lead and zinc deposit, which has been in development since 2020, that they will receive fair, just, and satisfactory compensation.
“We are completely at ease and have no concerns about revising the compensation levels,” he declared in front of civil society representatives, met in the late afternoon in Tala-Hamza, about 15 kilometers southwest of Bejaia, where they were specifically invited to express their grievances and reaffirm their full support for the project, which, according to the minister, “is of major importance” and is closely monitored.
“During the last government council meeting, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune instructed me to ensure that the project does not commence operations until the last of the expropriated individuals is satisfied with their compensation,” he assured, as reported by the APS agency.
He emphasized that beyond its potential, the project aims to establish an economic hub dedicated to processing industries primarily using zinc and lead, urging the local population to support it because “the deposit holds great promise.”
Following his lead, the director of WMZ (Western Mediterranean Zinc), an Algerian-Australian joint venture holding the exploitation permit, elaborated on the qualities of this deposit, which ranks among the world’s top 12 largest deposits.
The deposit has an exploitable reserve of 24 million tonnes annually. With the depletion of several ore veins around the world, the Amizour deposit is poised to become a pivotal one, especially as it plans to use innovative technology (downward backfilling method) and advanced, non-polluting techniques, she stated.
The deposit is expected to start production in 2026, coinciding with the completion of expropriation-compensation processes and the establishment of a processing plant for both minerals.
