Oman has signed 16 agreements to date in the mining sector, Saud Khamis Al Mahrouqi, Director General of Minerals at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals said.

The agreements include 12 concession areas for metallic minerals with Minerals Development Oman (MDO), one concession area for laterite ore with British company Knights Bay and three concession areas for potash and lithium ore with Mawarid Mining, Tasnim and Ara, the state-owned Oman News Agency (ONA) reported.

Oman is abundant in metallic mineral ores such as copper, chromium, iron ore, manganese and non-metallic ores such as marble, limestone, gypsum, clay, silica and dolomite sandstone.

The Sultanate is the world's leading exporter of gypsum ore due to its high purity and abundant reserves, the ONA report said.

(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)