Royalty of Using Jordanian Oil Shale as an Alternative Fuel in the Cement Industry

The Jordanian oil shale (JOSh) is considered as a strategic mineral similar to oil. The government of Jordan seeks to earn a new royalty rate from the oil shale extraction industry to cope with the constantly changing fuel oil prices in the world. This paper discusses the royalty rate when using oil shale in the cement industry. The royalty rate is estimated by creating formulas of substitute portions of different types of fuel used in the cement industry. The suggested mathematical equation of the royalty rate determination for each tonne extracted has been calculated, taking into account the stripping ratio and the variability in the oil content percentage in different oil shale (OS) deposits. The purpose of royalty rate determination is to control the mining operations and the quantities of the extracted oil shale. Results indicate that as the portion of oil shale or Petcoke in the mixture increases, the saving rate increases as well. Moreover, the cost of using portions of oil shale or Petcoke in the fuel mixture tends to be less than the cost of utilizing pure fuel oil. The current study recommends using oil shale mixed with fuel as an energy alternative in the manufacturing of cement in Jordan.