Algeria is poised to allow wider foreign ownership of mines as the gas-rich nation looks to boost production of minerals including phosphate, iron ore and lithium to diversify its economy.

New legislation permitting foreign companies to hold as much as 80% of mining projects is set for a vote in parliament, potentially marking a major shift for the nation where state enterprises wield majority control.

The North African country is also looking to streamline the licensing process and to trim billions of dollars' worth of costly imports, including steel and marble, according to the head of the national mining company Sonarem.

“There is a global strategic vision for the country to promote and transform high value-added mining products,” CEO Belkacem Soltani said in an interview in the capital, Algiers.

The new mining rules, which would also allow for joint exploration and exploitation licenses, would supplant a 2014 law that caps foreign ownership to 49%, with the state holding the remainder. The vote is set for June 16.

A major natural gas supplier to Europe, Algeria borders nations that are significant mineral exporters, including phosphate-rich Morocco and gold-mining Mali, but ships relatively little itself. In recent years, authorities have focused on developing its phosphate rock and iron ore industries.

Hydrocarbons account for more than three-quarters of Algeria’s exports and about half of state revenue, leaving it particularly vulnerable to volatile energy prices. The International Monetary Fund, which sees the economy growing 3.5% this year, has urged authorities to seek other income streams and attract more private capital.

Diversification has been piecemeal so far. A slight easing of Algeria’s strict visa regime has yet to create a tourist boom and the stock market remains tiny.

Still, authorities are pressing on with strategic projects, including a plan to mine phosphate to create fertilizers, mainly for domestic use, with the assistance of state energy giant Sonatrach SpA.

About $1.5-billion of investment will go into exploiting Bled El Hadba and Djebal El Onk, two deposits in Algeria’s southwest with a combined 4.7 billion tons of the resource, Soltani said.

Processing will take place in the Kebrit region, with at least $4 billion in funding for the facilities, he added. He said Sonarem recently signed agreements for engineering-design studies for the project with an Italian and a German company, declining to identify them.

Sonarem is also partnering with China’s Sinosteel and Turkey’s Tosyali Holding to mine an estimated combined 7 billion tons of iron ore from deposits in Gara Djebilet and Mecheri Abdelaziz. Some $800 million has been invested in an iron-processing unit with Tosyali with capacity of 4 million tons.

Australian company Terramin has a 49% stake in a mining project in Oued Amizour that involves 58 million tons of lead and zinc, Soltani said.

Authorities also plan to launch a tender for expressions of interest to mine about 58 tons of gold deposits in the Tirek Amesmessa and Zita area.

Meanwhile, a recent lithium find in the country’s south shows “potential,” although “it has not yet been identified in terms of grade and quantity of exploitable reserves,” Soltani said.