Bioleaching offers Oman a cleaner path to critical minerals

Oman is poised to introduce bioleaching — an innovative biotechnology that harnesses naturally occurring microorganisms to extract valuable metals from minerals and mining waste — for the first time, following plans by Omani startup Ajib Environmental Rehabilitation Company to establish the Sultanate of Oman's first commercial bioleaching project.
The initiative, outlined in the latest edition of Enjaz & Eejaz, the quarterly newsletter of the Oman Investment Authority (OIA), marks a significant milestone in the country's drive to build a knowledge-based, circular economy while advancing more sustainable approaches to mineral extraction.
Ajib, founded in 2022, specialises in recycling mining waste, rehabilitating degraded industrial sites and providing environmental consulting services. According to the newsletter, the company also plans to establish a specialised biotechnology laboratory that will underpin the commercialisation of bioleaching and support the development of advanced mineral recovery technologies using locally sourced microorganisms.
The sovereign wealth fund views the initiative as having strategic significance beyond the mining sector. OIA says the technology could help meet the technological requirements of two of its flagship portfolio companies — OQ Group, the Sultanate of Oman's integrated energy company and Minerals Development Oman (MDO) — both of which are collaborating with Ajib to evaluate the commercial application of bioleaching technologies.
'Ajib's participation in the Hamat Hackathon, part of the Idea Makers initiative, proved to be a turning point', the newsletter notes. 'The company earned second place in the OIA Companies Challenges track for an innovative solution to the treatment and disposal of produced water from oil production'.
That success helped propel the startup beyond laboratory research into strategic partnerships with OQ and MDO, with the focus shifting towards scaling bioleaching technologies and rigorously assessing their economic viability.
Bioleaching — sometimes referred to as biomining — represents one of the fastest-growing innovations in sustainable mineral processing. Unlike conventional mining techniques that often rely on high-temperature smelting or large quantities of chemical reagents, bioleaching employs naturally occurring bacteria and other microorganisms to unlock metals trapped within ores, mine tailings and industrial waste.
The microorganisms do not consume the metals themselves. Instead, they derive energy by interacting with naturally occurring iron and sulphur compounds in mineral deposits. In doing so, they trigger chemical reactions that dissolve the surrounding mineral matrix, allowing valuable metals to be recovered using established extraction methods.
The technology has already been deployed commercially in several countries for recovering copper, nickel, cobalt, zinc and uranium, while it also plays an important role in processing certain gold-bearing ores. Researchers worldwide are now expanding its application to strategic minerals essential for the global energy transition, including lithium, rare earth elements, manganese and vanadium.
For Oman, the implications could be particularly significant. The Sultanate of Oman possesses a long mining heritage and abundant reserves of copper, chromite, gypsum, limestone and other industrial minerals. Decades of mining have also left behind extensive stockpiles of low-grade ores, waste rock and tailings that often still contain economically recoverable quantities of valuable minerals.
Bioleaching offers the possibility of transforming these legacy waste streams into productive assets. By recovering metals that conventional technologies often leave behind, the process not only creates additional economic value but also reduces the environmental footprint associated with abandoned mine waste.
Compared with traditional extraction methods, bioleaching generally requires less energy, fewer hazardous chemicals and produces lower greenhouse gas emissions. Although the process is typically slower than conventional mining techniques, it enables the recovery of metals from materials previously considered uneconomic to process.
Ajib's ambitions extend well beyond conventional bioleaching. According to the newsletter, the company is developing 'advanced solutions for mineral extraction using microorganisms, unlocking resources that have long gone untapped and supporting the shift towards a more sustainable and efficient economy'.
These next-generation approaches may include tailored communities of microorganisms capable of improving metal recovery from complex ores, as well as biological techniques for extracting critical minerals from mine tailings and industrial residues — technologies that are attracting growing international attention as countries seek more sustainable supplies of minerals needed for renewable energy, batteries and advanced manufacturing.
The company's progress has been built on several years of scientific research. Working with universities, research institutions, government agencies and private-sector partners, Ajib has collected more than 200 samples from local waste streams and natural environments, successfully isolating over 60 strains of bacteria, fungi and algae.
Those investigations demonstrated that valuable minerals, salts and other economically important elements could potentially be recovered from industrial and mining waste using locally sourced microorganisms.
Looking ahead, OIA believes Ajib's journey illustrates how home-grown innovation can support the country's economic diversification ambitions.
'The journey began in a laboratory', the newsletter states. 'What Ajib is building, step by step, is proof that innovation can turn environmental challenges into genuine development opportunities and that an Omani company can lead the way'.
If successfully commercialised, Ajib's bioleaching project would not only introduce an entirely new mining technology to Oman but could also establish the foundations of a domestic biotechnology capability, positioning the Sultanate of Oman as an emerging regional centre for sustainable mining innovation while helping unlock new value from resources that have long remained untapped.