Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Alara Resources inks deal with Mining Development Oman

960759
960759
minus
plus

SHOT IN THE ARM: MoU bodes well for early commercialisation of prodigious copper deposits -


Conrad Prabhu -


MUSCAT, MARCH 21 -


Australian minerals exploration company Alara Resources Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mining Development Oman (MDO), the Sultanate’s new mining investment and development flagship.


The pact represents a major shot in the arm for the Australian firm as its local joint venture prepares to launch work on its ambitious Al Hadeetha Copper Gold project, as well as pursuing other mining initiatives in the Sultanate.


MDO is a new holding company established last year to invest in, among other things, large-scale commercial mining and downstream processing schemes, as well as transport and logistics infrastructure to underpin the growth of this promising sector.


Sixty per cent of MDO’s share capital of RO 100 million is owned by four government entities: the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), Oman Investment Fund (OIF), Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Oman National Investments Development Company (TANMIA). The balance 40 per cent is proposed to be offered for public subscription via an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM).


“Alara and MDO have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Confidentiality Agreement in connection with these objectives (the MoU),” said Alara in its statement. “Alara’s discussions with other interested parties (including potential project equity partners for


Oman) are continuing, subject to the terms of the MoU. While Alara remains open to receiving equity investment at the project level, this is not a requirement for the Al Hadeetha Copper Gold Project to proceed,” it further noted.


Alara Resources plans to develop what is billed as the Sultanate’s single largest copper resource at Washihi, just outside Muscat Governorate, which will open up a potentially rich local source of supply for the nation’s domestic needs. Output of copper concentrate from the Washihi deposits is projected at around 350,000 tons over 10 years, yielding approximately 80,000 tons of copper metal if smelting is also undertaken locally.


Alara Resources has a 70 per cent shareholding in Al Hadeetha Resources, a local Omani company that owns the mining licence within which the Washihi deposits fall. The balance 30 per cent is held by Al Hadeetha Investments LLC of the Sultanate.


The Washihi copper resource is large enough to support the construction of a one million-tons per annum capacity copper concentrator. The facility will yield around 30,000 tons of copper concentrate per year. Construction work on the plant, initially planned to commence before the end of last year, did not take off for want of a permit by the Public Authority for Mining (PAM).


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon