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State-owned Minerals Development Oman (MDO) has provided a progress report on its key projects, which represent a combined investment of $1.2 billion aimed at unlocking the full potential of the country's mineral resources.
The update, released in the company’s 2025 annual report, highlighted progress across copper, salt, titanium and industrial minerals projects.
Mazoon Copper Project
The Mazoon Copper Project, the sultanate’s largest integrated copper concentrate production project, has achieved a 35 percent completion rate, according to the annual report released last week.
Concrete works for primary crushers and grinding mills have been completed, the report said. Agreements were signed with the Finnish company Metso last year to equip the plant with new technologies.
The project has already secured $270 million in financing, covering 60 percent of the total cost [estimated at $450 million). It covers 20 square kilometres (sq km) and has total reserves estimated at 23.54 million tonnes. The total production capacity stands at 115,000 tonnes of copper concentrate.
Naqaa Salt
MDO has received the final environmental permit for the 13.4 million Omani rials ($35 million) Naqaa Salt Project, a joint venture with Dev Salt India, the report noted. The project management team has been established and preliminary construction works on site have commenced.
The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project, which covers 109 sq km in Wilayat Mahout, will have a production capacity of 2 million tonnes per annum.
Sohar Titanium
Sohar Titanium Project has achieved an overall project completion rate of 89 percent, with 84 percent construction work completed. The first and second furnaces have been commissioned.
The OMR 63.5 million ($165 million) project, developed in partnership with the Dubai Holding Group, covers 120,000 sqm in the Sohar Free Zone. It has an annual production capacity of 150,000 tonnes of titanium dioxide, the report said.
Ash-Shuwaimiyah Industrial Minerals Project
The report said a strategic partnership agreement was signed with India’s JSW to advance the Ash-Shuwaimiyah Industrial Minerals Project located in Dhofar Governorate. The project is estimated to cost about OMR 204 million ($531 million) and will be developed as an integrated, export-oriented minerals complex.
The scheme will include gypsum and limestone quarries tapping into Dhofar’s reserves, estimated at around 520 million tonnes of gypsum and 2.5 billion tonnes of limestone, and a deep-water port with an annual handling capacity of about 27 million tonnes.
Planned production capacity is around 30 million tonnes per year of gypsum and limestone combined.
(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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