MUSCAT: The Ministry of Energy and Minerals signed today 3 agreements in the mining sector based on exploration and mining for “potash” and “lithium” ore in the Dhahirah and Al Wusta governorates.
These agreements come after the Ministry adopted a new methodology for the development of the mining sector through the preparation of a concession agreement that includes the legal, technical and financial aspects to be agreed upon between the Ministry and the investor to be approved as an engine investment arm that manages the mechanism of managing the various mineral ores extracted from the specific concession areas.
The agreements were signed by His Excellency Eng. Salem bin Nasser Al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals, on the Ministry’s side, and on the companies’ side, it was signed by Muhammad bin Ali Al Barwani, Chairman of Mawarid Potash Mining Company for Concession Area No. 53-B, and Mohit Khimji’s, CEO of Tasnim Projects Company for Concession Area No. 53. – C, and Al-Zubair bin Muhammad Al-Zubair, Chairman of Ara Natural Resources Company for Concession Area No. 51 – C.
The Ministry seeks, through its identification of concession areas in the mining sector, to overcome the challenges of the mechanism of receiving previous requests, and to provide an integrated database that includes geological, geophysical and exploratory surveys covering all governorates of the Sultanate of Oman, and to create a regular and sustainable tributary for exploration and mining opportunities and to protect the sites of placement of mineral ores from urban encroachment or seizure. These areas are vast areas that overlap with the placement of these raw materials with an economic dimension.
The ministry focuses on minerals of high economic value (metallic minerals), attracting international companies specialized in exploration and mining, enabling the establishment of mining industries, and providing diverse and safe jobs.
The Ministry of Energy and Minerals is working to regulate investment in the mining sector in an appropriate manner that ensures optimal utilization of the mineral stocks in the Sultanate of Oman by creating a mechanism that guarantees the sustainability of the sector and in a way that ensures the achievement of added value, as the concession areas project comes as one of the projects that will enhance economic growth in the Sultanate of Oman and regulate licensing work and the speed of its issuance through mining opportunities ready for investment that are offered as concession areas, which will contribute to creating an investment portfolio and an organized sector that reduces environmental impacts.
Source: ONA
Date: 30 May 2023
