Pre-stripping begins at Oman’s flagship Mazoon copper project

MUSCAT: Oman’s landmark Mazoon Copper Project has reached a key mining milestone with the start of pre-stripping operations, marking the physical transition of one of the Sultanate of Oman’s largest copper resources towards commercial production.
Mattar al Badi, Chief Executive Officer of Minerals Development Oman (MDO), said the first excavator had begun cutting into waste rock at the mine that will supply the project’s copper concentration plant.
Pre-stripping involves removing overburden and waste rock to expose the underlying orebody ahead of full-scale mining.
“This is the moment when a resource moves from a number in a report to a mine on the ground,” Al Badi said, describing the seemingly routine activity as one of the most decisive stages in mine development.
Located in the Wilayat of Yanqul in Al Dhahirah Governorate, Mazoon is being developed by MDO as Oman’s largest integrated copper concentrate production project. The development covers around 20 sq km and is centred on multiple open-pit mines feeding a central processing complex.
MDO’s 2025 Annual Report put total reserves at approximately 23.4 million tonnes, following the addition of around 4.9 million tonnes of new resources. The processing plant will have capacity to handle 2.5 million tonnes of ore annually and produce around 115,000 tonnes of copper concentrate with a copper grade of approximately 21.5 per cent.
Supporting infrastructure includes central crushing facilities, a tailings storage facility, power and water networks, and administrative and residential facilities.
Construction made significant headway during 2025. Major construction and service packages were awarded to local contractors, while concrete works for the primary crushers and grinding mills were completed. MDO has also contracted Finnish mining technology specialist Metso to supply key processing equipment and technologies.
The latest mining milestone comes after Mazoon secured substantial financing for its development. Earlier this year, ahlibank announced the financial close of a dual-currency, multi-tranche syndicated facility exceeding RO 154 million ($400 million), comprising conventional and Islamic financing tranches with participation from a group of Omani financial institutions.
Copper concentrate production is targeted to commence in 2027, positioning Mazoon as a cornerstone of Oman’s efforts to revive domestic copper production, expand its non-hydrocarbon industrial base and build a stronger presence in global critical-minerals supply chains.