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REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Investing in the east

by Fraser Palamara

ustralian resource juniors seldom find their way into the first foreign explorer to receive a new mining licence from
Athe Middle East, a region synonymous with oil and gas the Omani Government since 2004.
production, but Alara Resources Ltd has started to forge a “[The Government] identified four key sectors and mining
success story which may send a message of encouragement was recognised to be promoted,” Sthapak said.
to the rest of the industry.
“Oman formulated a new mining law and policy on how to
Alara kicked off mining activities at the Al Wash-hi-Majaza promote the mining industry and to attract foreign investment
copper-gold project in Oman in early February, with first into the country. There was a lot of knowledge built up in the
commissioning expected by the end of this year for the 0.9 public authority of mining.”
mtpa operation.
Arab countries continue to diversify their profits away from
The project’s resources currently stand at 12.39mt @ 0.89% the oil and gas industry, including investments into precious
copper and 0.22 g/t gold (indicated) and 3.7mt @ 0.79% metals, base metals and critical battery minerals.
copper and 0.23 g/t gold (inferred). Al Wash-hi-Majaza has a
In February, the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry
$US137 million NPV based on a 10-year life.
attended the Arab International Conference on Minerals
Pre-stripping activities started in March and first ore is Resources in the United Arab Emirates, along with more
expected to be mined in Q2. than 300 participants from 35 countries.
January saw the completion of an accommodation village, Oman Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said presented on
capable of housing 325 workers across construction, mining opportunities in mineral wealth and conference topics
and plant operations crews. Water supply was also secured included the surveying, extraction and processing of
in the same month and a mining fleet has arrived on site with sustainable resources projects.
processing plant components enroute.
Alara is now targeting the completion of initial benches for
continuous ore production and to establish operating ramps,
haul roads, waste dumps and stockpiles.
The company has travelled a long path to bring the project
this far, one challenging enough to deter less experienced
companies. But managing director Atmavireshwar Sthapak
speaks with no regrets when reflecting on the hurdles
overcome and those still ahead.
“It was in 2010 when Alara pretty much mobilised, formed
an exploration team and moved into opportunities in Oman,”
Sthapak told GMJ via a video call from Oman.
“I joined Alara from Rio Tinto [plc] and we did a feasibility
study around 2015-2016. After that began the struggle of
getting the mining licence.”
Alara managing director Atmavireshwar Sthapak (in orange) with Oman
Sthapak explained it was a learning curve for both the
Royal Family member and Al Naba chairman Sayyed Khaled Al Busaidi
Omani Government to recognise the resources opportunity,
and Alara to navigate the Government’s expectations.
“The Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Tourism, In March, the Oman Ministry of Energy and Minerals signed
Ministry of Defence; about eight different ministries were 12 “exploration-to-mining” concessions, amounting to
involved in getting approval before the mining licence was 21,480sq km of tenure including gold, copper and chromium
granted to us,” he recalled. opportunities.
“We were eventually successful in achieving the approvals The Government specifically noted that international
and permissions. But one thing that also happened at the companies specialising in exploration and minerals
same time was the oil price was hitting its bottom and extraction would be considered for future opportunities to
governments were looking for other revenues.” create downstream processing opportunities and job growth.
Alara received its mining licence in 2018, the same year oil “We hope that the promising results of these exploration
prices fell as low as $US45.52/barrel. At the time, Alara was

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