This guest blog post is contributed by Amira Taqi – Group Legal Counsel at Minerals Development Oman.
The mining industry in the Sultanate of Oman is diversifying and developing at an appreciable pace. The Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) has deployed a new strategy to expand the mining sector by recently granting Minerals Development Oman (MDO), a strategic government-owned investor, concessionary exploration-to-mining rights over areas covering 21,5002km. This blog post aims to explain to readers the importance of the said concession agreements, their purpose, comparative advantage to the conventional licensing mechanism, and strategic importance to investors and to Oman.