Libya tests a minerals track with Washington
A Tripoli government delegation has held talks in Washington with the U.S. Geological Survey to assess Libya’s mineral resources, including strategic and rare minerals, as reported by Libya Herald and agencies on May 3rd.
At the centre of the meeting is an attempt to activate a technical partnership between Libya’s National Mining Corporation and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which operates under the U.S. Department of the Interior. The discussions followed earlier contacts held in October 2025 and February 2026.
The Libyan delegation included Transport Minister Mohamed Al-Shahoubi, Oil and Gas Minister Khalifa Abdel-Sadig, Economy Minister Suhail Abu Shiha, Mustafa Al-Mana, head of the executive team for prime ministerial initiatives and strategic projects, and Faraj Al-Shandouli, director general of the National Mining Corporation.
The focus was on launching advanced geological survey programmes designed to produce a clearer assessment of Libya’s mineral base. That includes resources described as strategic and rare, a category increasingly tied to global competition over industrial supply chains, clean energy technologies and defence-linked materials.
For Tripoli, mining is being presented as a potential alternative economic pillar in a country still overwhelmingly dependent on oil revenues.
The talks also covered mechanisms to develop the mining sector by improving the investment climate, increasing its attractiveness to international companies and raising the added value of Libya’s natural resources.
A serious mining strategy would allow it to address not only hydrocarbons, reconstruction, and public spending, but also economic diversification and long-term resource mapping.
For Washington, the file fits into a wider pattern of engagement with Libya’s strategic sectors. The same delegation has also been holding energy- and investment-related discussions in the United States, suggesting that Tripoli is trying to package natural resources, infrastructure, and governance reform into a single external cooperation track.
The broader implication is that Libya’s resource diplomacy is slowly expanding beyond oil and gas. But turning geological potential into an investable sector will still require security, regulatory clarity and functioning institutions, which remain the unresolved conditions behind almost every economic project in Libya.
Libya Herald plus agencies, Maghrebi.org
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