MUSCAT, SEPT 21
Minerals Development Oman (MDO) is making its first investment foray into Africa through a majority-owned joint venture in Botswana, marking another step in the Omani state-backed mining company's push to build an international portfolio alongside its domestic investments.
MDO has signed a binding term sheet with Botswana state-owned Exploration Investment Company Botswana (EICB) to establish a joint venture focused on the exploration and development of copper and gold resources. MDO will hold a 76 per cent stake in the venture. The agreement was signed during His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik's visit to Botswana.
MDO described the move as part of its strategy to expand its mining investment portfolio and pursue promising opportunities in international markets.
“Our entry into Botswana is not simply about expanding geographically. It is about building a strong international portfolio while creating greater value from mining, at home and abroad”, MDO Chief Executive Officer Mattar al Badi said.
“Botswana offers exciting geological potential and we look forward to exploring what lies beneath its ground while strengthening the ties and creating opportunities between the people of Oman and Botswana”, he added.
The venture is particularly significant because of Botswana's position within the Kalahari Copper Belt (KCB), a major mineralised corridor extending from Namibia into northwestern Botswana and increasingly recognised as an important global copper exploration and production district.
The Botswana section of the belt hosts significant sediment-hosted copper-silver mineralisation and established operations including Khoemacau and Motheo. Large areas of prospective geology remain concealed beneath Kalahari sand cover, creating opportunities for modern geophysical, geochemical and data-driven exploration.
EICB, meanwhile, was established by Botswana to stimulate mineral exploration, consolidate geological data and help turn promising prospects into investable projects. Its mandate includes copper and other strategic minerals, with the Kalahari Copper Belt among its areas of focus.
The Botswana venture builds on MDO's emerging international strategy. In August, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan-based gold producer Solidcore Resources covering technical cooperation and knowledge transfer across geology, exploration, mining, mineral processing, metallurgy and project development.
Unlike the Botswana deal, however, the Solidcore arrangement is currently a non-binding cooperation framework rather than an equity joint venture. The Botswana agreement therefore represents a more substantive step in MDO's international expansion and its maiden entry into Africa.
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