Overview
Mining is one of the Omani government’s focus sectors under its economic diversification program. Oman’s mining industry has attracted increasing interest from both foreign and local operators as Oman was the first GCC producer and exporter of ferrochrome. The Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM), and Minerals Development Oman (MDO) – the government-backed mining and mineral processing firm – are responsible for developing and driving investments to the sector. MEM’s Industry Development of Energy and Minerals unit focuses on developing the downstream processing of minerals and value-addition in-country instead of exporting unprocessed raw materials.
The Law of Mineral Wealth of 2019 contains provisions relating to exploration and expropriation activities, as well as the types of permits and available concession agreements. The law provides for a minimum mining license period of five years, and flexible royalties.
Although numerous quarrying and mining operations are underway, Oman’s mineral resources, including metals and industrial minerals, are still relatively untapped. Oman’s mountains host intact and exposed ophiolites, which could contain metal deposits such as chromite, cobalt, copper, gold, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel, palladium, platinum, silver, vanadium, and zinc. The following are some of the minerals in Oman that hold promise:
Gypsum: Oman is the world’s largest gypsum exporter by weight, shipping approximately 8.74 million tons in 2021 primarily to ASEAN and South/East African countries, according to local press.
Chromite: Approximately 30 million metric tons of chromite ore are in Oman, according to the Oman Chromite Company. Oman is exporting metallurgical grade chromite ores in response to rising demand from China and shortages of ferrochrome worldwide.
Copper: Oman has identified large-scale copper mining as a strategic project and several foreign mining companies are active in Oman. A joint venture with an Australia-based mining firm plans to construct a copper concentration plant that would produce one million metric tons per year.
Other Materials: Surveys have indicated deposits of asbestos, coal, iron ore, lead, manganese, nickel, silver, and zinc.
MDO’s projects include a copper-gold mine in Yanqul, a titanium dioxide plant in Sohar (production starting Q1 2025), and salt extraction from seawater in Mahout, Oman. Leading Sub-Sectors
Main Metallic Minerals: Copper, Chromite, Laterite, Manganese
Industrials Minerals and Rocks: Limestone, Marble, Dolomite, Gypsum, Silica sands and Quartzite, Clays and Shale, Salt, Coal, Olivine, Kaoline, Salt, Aggregates
Opportunities
In March 2023, Oman invited companies to bid for seven new mining concessions across the country, with prospects for gypsum, dolomite, limestone, phosphates, clay, copper, gold, silver, and chrome. The same month, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals announced that it had signed its first mining agreement with a foreign investor, UK based Knights Bay to extract nickel and its derivatives. Other foreign investors include Australian Alara Resources, and companies from China and India are active in chromite and gypsum exports, respectively.
MEM has launched a mining license management service on ‘Taqa’ platform to apply for mining opportunities, Investors must meet specific technical and financial requirements, including providing an executive summary, initial business plans, and proof of financial capabilities. Through the ‘Taqa’ platform, the Ministry has announced six mining concession areas. MDO seeks U.S. investors as joint venture partners to bring exploration and mining technology. MDO is offering exploration investment opportunities across its 14 mining concession areas, spanning 23,763 sq. km, which holds potential copper, chromite, nickel, and platinum, alongside industrial minerals such as limestone, gypsum, phosphorite, silica and lithium.
Strategic and Precious Metals Processing (SPMP) and its majority shareholder the Oman Investment Authority (OIA) are seeking a foreign investor in the large antimony smelter and refinery in the Sohar Port and Free Zone (SPFZ) industrial area. The facility needs 60,000 tons of antimony ore annually to operate efficiently, making it the largest smelter and refinery outside of China, and among the largest in the world. The smelter-refinery was built to European safety and environmental standards, and it could refine and capture gold present in some antimony ores – two characteristics that set the facility apart from most competitors. Two arc furnaces operated on relatively low-cost electricity, and a planned 300 MW solar plant might also feed into the smelter. The plant has not operated commercially since a deal with a Russian antimony mine collapsed in early 2022 after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but a December 2023 technical test went well.
Although foreign firms can acquire mining permits, foreign investors still face considerable bureaucratic and environmental challenges and may only be able to enter the market as service contractors or joint venture partners with Omani firms or MDO.
Oman has longstanding plans to develop an internal rail network for the transportation of minerals from the southern interior to the Port of Duqm for processing and refining.