It exploited rich deposits of high-quality ore at two sites in northeast Algeria near the Tunisian border.

[1] Rising iron ore prices at the start of the 20th century caused interest in exploiting the Ouenza deposits.

Pascal did not have the resources to develop the concession, which he ceded through an intermediary to Eugène Schneider of Le Creusot.

In 1902 Pascal revoked his agreement with Schneider and ceded it to Muller, who created the Société concessionnaire des Mines de l'Ouenza in 1903.

The existing narrow-gauge Bône-Tébessa line did not have the capacity to carry the ore from Ouenza in addition to phosphates from Tébessa region.

The shortest distance and easiest terrain for a new line would be from Ouenza to Nebeur in Tunisia, which was connected by rail to the port of Bizerte.

Ships supplying coal to the French naval base there could carry the ore on the return journey.

The deciding factor was that Bône was in Algeria, and a purely Algerian (French) route was favored by the premier Georges Clemenceau and other leading politicians.

[5] The government proposed a law to let Schneider build the railway to Bône, but ran into opposition from various sources including socialists and syndicalists.

In March 1909 the government withdrew the proposed Bône railway law, and immediately there were howls of protest from Algeria.

[1] The Société de l'Ouenza was created in 1913 with capital of 114 million francs to exploit the Ouenza iron deposits.

[1] A lead and zinc mining concession at Bou-Khadra was granted in 1903 to the Société Mokta El Hadid.

The opening of a standard gauge railway from Oued Keberit to Souk Ahras and availability of more powerful tractors made the Bou-Khadra deposit more attractive in 1920.

The Société de l'Ouenza made the better offer and on 29 August 1925 was granted the concession, including iron ore, lead and zinc.

[8] The Great Depression forced the Société de l'Ouenza in 1932 to ask for a delay in payments to the Algerian government.

Output began to rise again to 1,000,000 tons or more annually, but as the economic crisis continued the company asked for further revision of the concession terms, and a new agreement was made on 28 April 1937.

The Bône port facilities were badly damaged by bombing in November 1942, but it proved possible to build a conveyor from the debris that could load 1,000 tons per hour.

An ordinance of 11 May 1967 transferred the assets, rights and liabilities of BAREM to the Société Nationale de Recherches et d'Exploitation Minières (SONAREM).