Hadhramaut's "Black Sands"... A Wealth Exposed to Extortion Through Contracts Suspicious of Corruption

The Yemeni coastal governorates are rich in these minerals, including Hadhramaut, Al Mahrah and Al Hudaydah, but at a time when the country is witnessing war, dispersion and division of influence, these minerals are being excavated and exported in wrong and illegal ways and sold at low prices.

Chinese Black Horse Company Returns After Violations

Over the past decades, many companies have come to Yemen for the purpose of exploration, mining and export in black sands. Here we try to shed light on the Chinese company "Black Horse Mining, Import and Export" that appeared four years ago in Hadhramaut.

The company obtained an exploration license only from the Hadhramaut Geological Survey Authority in November 2020, in the Al-Safal (Ras Al-Kalb) area, in the Brom Mayfa’a District, which is located within the scope of operations of the Second Military Region, in Hadhramaut Governorate, but the company committed many violations and transgressions, according to multiple sources who spoke to “Yemeni Youth Net”.

The Chinese company attempted to export large quantities estimated at about 500 tons of black sand in July 2021, with the complicity of the Geological Survey Authority, which was aware that the company did not have a mining and export license, and issued a statement that this quantity was intended for analysis and industrial experiments, according to the attached document.

This violation caused a stir, and its export was stopped by the intelligence and government authorities, and for the same reason, Salah Babhair, the director of the Hadhramaut Survey and Geology Authority at the time, was dismissed, but the Chinese company is still working and a new contract has been concluded with it, which has sparked controversy again.

Regarding the Chinese company accused of violations, Faiz Basara, Director of the Survey and Geology Authority in Hadhramaut, told "Yemeni Youth Net", "The company's situation was corrected and fines were imposed on it, as a result of which a quantity that was present on the Mukalla port dock was abandoned and became the property of the Authority, which sold it to the Hadhrami Company (Saeed Mohammed Bashantouf)." He attached a memo to that effect.

Early this October, the company exported a shipment of black sand to China via the port of Mukalla, based on the directives and approval of the Minister of Oil, Saeed Al-Shamasi, and the Governor of Hadhramaut, Mabkhout bin Madi, to sell it outside the country, according to a memorandum from the Geological Survey Authority in Hadhramaut.

The matter raised many questions, and the incident was raised on social media and local media, accusing the Survey Authority and local and government officials of colluding with the company in operations they described as smuggling and looting the country's wealth, including black sand raw materials.

However, the Geological Survey Authority denied this, and said that the company is currently operating officially and has all legal licenses, including a mining license No. (2023/1), issued by the Authority’s main office in Aden, and approved by the Minister of Oil and Minerals, but the Prime Ministry has not approved the license yet, which confirms that there are violations.

Attorney General investigates the agreement

The Attorney General, Judge Qaher Mustafa, directed the head of the Central Organization for Control and Accounting to open an investigation into what was raised regarding the agreement signed between the Geological Survey Authority in Hadhramaut and the Black Horse Company on March 9, 2023, which authorizes the latter to mine black sand ore in the Safal area in the Brom Mayfa’a Directorate of Hadhramaut.

The Attorney General's directive came during the past weeks after the issue was widely raised on social media, stating that mineral wealth was being smuggled and stolen at the Mukalla port dock in the name of the Black Horse Company, and that an agreement was being concluded in violation of the export of black sand ore.

Director of the Geological Survey Authority in Hadhramaut, Faiz Basra, said, “The agreements are drafted and signed by the Chairman of the Authority, approved by the Minister of Oil, and submitted in an official letter from the Minister to the Prime Minister for review and approval.”

He added to "Yemeni Youth Net" that the file of the "Black Horse" company is approved and managed by a person with Chinese nationality called "Wang Ding Feng", and is on the table of the Prime Minister from the year 2023, noting that "it stopped exporting until the procedures for converting the exploration license to mining were completed, and this is what happened at the beginning of last year."

Basra stated, “What was exported in the last shipment at the beginning of October was only 190 tons, due to a dispute between the contractor and the company, and a quantity of (60 tons) remained at the mining site and was not transferred to the port,” noting that “this shipment was made exceptionally under the directives of the Minister of Oil, Saad Al-Shamasi, to cover the company’s expenses and losses as a result of the stoppage.”

Accusations of illegal export of crude oil

"Yemeni Youth Net" obtained contradictory memos from the Central Geological Survey Authority in Aden and its branch in Hadhramaut, confirming approval for the export of black sand ore, and directives to the port authorities in Hadhramaut to allow this.

In a memo addressed to Oil Minister Saeed Al-Shamasi from the acting head of the Geological Survey Authority in Aden, Ahmed Yamani, dated August 8, 2024, asking him to allow work to continue at the mining site and the export of crude until the agreement is ratified by the Prime Minister.

In the same context, the Director of the Geological Survey Authority in Hadhramaut, Faiz Basra, requested from the Governor of Mabkhout bin Madi - in a memorandum dated September 30 - to direct the Chairman of the Arabian Sea Ports Authority to facilitate the export of a shipment of black sand (separated) in an amount of 250 tons, and the export was directed. This raises questions about the complicity of the authorities in what was described as a "smuggling" operation.

We asked the director of the Geological Survey Authority in Hadhramaut, Basra, about the nature of the directive he issued requesting permission to export sand. He told “Yemeni Youth Net” that “the exported sand is not raw, but rather separated, and that the magnetic isolation laboratory is located at the company’s site, and there is a way to examine the sand to find out that,” justifying that they did not allow the export of raw material, which is legally prohibited.

Basra attributed the issue of black sand export to the political conflict between Governor Mabkhout bin Madi and First Deputy Amr bin Habrish, and the latter’s numerous attempts to show that the governor is not worthy of managing Hadhramaut’s affairs.

For his part, journalist Sabri Makhashen said, "There is clear manipulation in the process of exporting black sand raw material, which is illegal and absolutely not permitted regardless of your legal status, considering Basra's justification incorrect."

Makhashen added to "Yemeni Youth Net", "The mining process is basically a violation of the Mines and Quarries Law, which prohibits the export of metallic minerals in such a case or situation, as the company violated the exploration work and was stopped to fulfill the requirements of the exploration license."

He pointed out that "when the black sand is separated, other materials come out that are no longer black sand. The head of the authority told the Minister of Oil - referring to the document - that the black sand is raw and has been stopped for two years, and the minister is demanding that it be allowed to continue."

Suspicions of corruption regarding the eligibility of mining companies

Observers and experts in geology believe that companies working in the field of mining and exporting black sand do not have the qualifications and financial value, in addition to the fact that the process of exporting black sand raw materials by the ton is considered a dredging of minerals from the Yemeni coasts and selling them at a cheap price.

Geological expert and consultant in natural resources development, Dr. Abdul Ghani Abdullah Jaghman, said, “The Chinese Black Horse Company specializes in stocks and speculation, and Gulf Care Company specializes in logistics, medicines and medical supplies in Kuwait. It has nothing to do with mining at all.” These two companies are the ones operating in Yemen in black sand mining.

He added in an interview with "Yemeni Youth Net", "The aforementioned companies that have obtained the franchise to work in the black sand mining sector in Yemen are fictitious companies that are not specialized in mining and do not have any previous experience and do not possess either the financial capacity or the technical expertise in mining."

"The incompetence of companies indicates corrupt deals by officials and brokers who are trying to take Yemen's wealth and sell it at the cheapest prices," Juman explained. "I do not believe that there is any investor or company that can work in Yemen with this miserable reality and in light of these violent political conflicts."

He continued: "If we assume that the companies working in mining are professional, the Geological Survey Authority must enhance the added value by obligating the companies working in extracting minerals from licensed sites to establish factories to wash, sort and extract heavy metals from black sand."

Beach dredging disaster at a low price

Geological expert Abdul Ghani Jaghman confirms that the process of exporting black sand in tons in large quantities, the latest of which was a shipment of 250 tons, is a grave mistake, and there are serious environmental effects from the process of dredging the beaches of Hadhramaut and the Mayfa’a region and exporting it abroad at a low price, as the price of a ton reaches 20 dollars.

The geological expert called on the Geological Survey Authority and the Ministry of Oil to do their work in preserving the environment from dredging and enhancing added value by obligating companies operating in these sectors to establish laboratories for extracting, purifying, washing and separating minerals, so that each mineral is sold separately and at an appropriate price.

Jaghman stressed the "necessity of enhancing added value to employ local people and increase the profit margin. Instead of selling a ton for a maximum of $50, a kilogram of these minerals can be sold for a thousand dollars."