Qatari rebar and billet producer Qatar Steel has announced that it intends to proceed with the development of direct reduction (DR) pellet production within the scope of the Mauritania-based Guelb el Aouj Iron Ore Project - a project in which Qatar Steel holds a 49.9 percent stake. This investment is the latest in a series of investments made by Qatar Steel to secure raw material resources.
Qatar Steel has already completed a definitive feasibility study (DFS) with the other stakeholders - Australia's Sphere Investments and Mauritania's Societe Nationale Industrielle et Miniere (SNIM).
The new project, which is expected to begin production in 2010, targets an annual output of seven million metric tons of direct reduction pellets.
Although the parties involved are silent about the cost of the project, some sources report that it could be more than $2 million.