Wednesday 22 / January / 2025
Muscat: The Ministry of Energy and Minerals on Wednesday signed two mining concession agreements for prospecting and mining copper ore and other ores and extracting sea salt.
The first agreement was inked with Al Haditha Energy company to obtain the right to prospect and mine in concession area No. (22-B). It was signed by Eng. Salim Nasser Al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals, and Sayyid Khalid Hamad Al Busaidi, Chairman of Al Haditha Energy’s Board of Directors.
The concession area is located in North A’Sharqiyah Governorate and it covers a total of 1,448 square kilometres. Al Haditha Energy, the first Omani company with an international joint venture, hereby obtains a license to mine copper in the Sultanate of Oman at the “Al Washhi-Al Majazah” site in the Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi in North A’Sharqiyah Governorate.
According to international standards, more than 16 million tonnes of copper were discovered at the project site, along with mineable reserves exceeding 10 million tonnes.
The agreement provides for conducting topographical, geophysical and remote sensing surveys, geological mapping, and geochemical analysis during the first exploration period of three years. This is in addition to drilling approximately 27 holes with a total drilling length of 4000 metres.
The second agreement, inked with Al Baraka Petrochemical Salts Company in Concession Area No. (62-A), was signed by Eng. Salim Nasser Al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals, and Dr. Abdul-Redha Mohammed Harmati, CEO of Al Baraka Petrochemical Salts Company.
This area is located in Al Wusta Governorate and it covers total of 46 square kilometres. The project seeks to extract salt from Al Lakbi area by evaporating seawater at a production rate of about 4 million tonnes of salts annually, at an estimated investment cost of $29 million.
Several industrial projects are expected to be established within the agreement, including a salt washing and purification plant “to produce industrial salt”, a salt washing and purification plant “to produce food salt”, a magnesium compounds production plant, a sodium sulphate plant, a bromine compounds production plant and a lithium compounds production plant.
Al Aufi pointed out that the agreements signed with Al Haditha Company and Al Baraka Petrochemical Salts Company set a milestone in maximising the use of local resources and enhancing social responsibility by generating economic opportunities and achieving a positive impact on the lives of citizens. The move is in pursuance of a drive to achieve the goals of sustainable development and support the national economy, he added.
Al Aufi explained that the Ministry is pressing ahead with efforts to bolster the mining sector as a major pillar of economic diversification in the Sultanate of Oman.
The minister added that 21 concession agreements for exploration and mining and two areas for the production of sea salt were signed recently with total investment commitments for exploration amounting to about $86 million. Approximately $46 million has been spent so far on exploration activities that included drilling wells at depths of up to 500 metres and implementing geophysical and geochemical surveys.
The Ministry also offered 6 new concession areas through the “Taqa” digital services platform, distributed across the geography of the Sultanate of Oman, targeting various raw materials such as copper, chromium, nickel, silica, gabbro, and kaolin, which enhances local content and supports converting industries.
