The Alumina Corporation, an American firm, was disclosed today to be the first foreign company to obtain prospecting rights in Israel for a resource other than oil.
The Israel Government approved a contract signed several months ago in the United States by Dr. Menahem Bader, director general of the Israel Development Ministry, with the corporation for prospecting phosphate deposits in the Negev.
The corporation is setting up a subsidiary to be called the Israel-American Phosphates Company to exploit the prospecting rights obtained by the parent firm in three large Negev areas. The corporation plans to invest 500,000 pounds ($280,000) in the project.
If workable deposits are found, the corporation will establish a refining plant with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons. The Government has guaranteed that royalties paid by the American firm will not exceed those paid by the Israel National Phosphates Co. and in any case the royalties will not exceed more than seven and one-half percent.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
