Oman plans to develop a integrated mining area in Dhofar

Oman plans to develop a integrated mining area in Dhofar

Muscat: Minerals Development Oman is working to develop an integrated world-class mining area in Shuwaymiyah in the Wilayat of Shalim and the Hallaniyat Islands in the Dhofar Governorate. This project consists of three main quarries that will produce 40 million tonnes of limestone, dolomite and gypsum ores. Eng. Nasser bin Saif Al-Muqbali, CEO of Minerals Development Oman, said that the Shuwaimiyah industrial minerals project is one of the most prominent strategic projects in the production of industrial minerals that the company is working on within its concession areas, with an estimated area of 1,500 square kilometres. He pointed out that the construction works of the Shuwaimiya project will start in 2024, and commercial operation is expected to start in 2027. This will encourage the development of export operations and the establishment of downstream projects, such as the manufacture of steel, fertilizers, cement and chemical industries, the CEO of Minerals Development Oman Company. He said that the company started the first geological study of the project in 2017, after which preliminary economic feasibility studies were conducted in 2020, which confirmed the existence of promising commercial reserves of industrial raw materials that can be developed in the upper and lower parts, followed