A committee of the Investment Center in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor approved on Monday the investment of a billion shekels for establishment of an industrial factory for the mining and production of copper at the Timna mines in the southern Negev. More than 500 people from Eilat and the southern Negev will be employed at the facility.
Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer called the investment good news for the region, which, he said, needs an "anchor industry" of this type to go along with Eilat's tourist industry.