Oman signs $418.7 million, 10-year mining contract for Mazoon
Key Facts
Oman Mining Development Company signed a mining services contract for the Mazoon copper and gold project worth 161 million Omani rials, equivalent to $418.7 million, according to Oman Observer. The contract was announced on 2 November 2026 as part of a package of Omani-Chinese agreements signed in Beijing. The newspaper said the signing took place in the presence of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq during his official visit to China. Under the agreement, the company awarded Hongda International mining services at the project in Yanqul. The 10-year contract represents a long-term operational commitment for a project targeting copper concentrate production starting in 2027.
The contract covers open-pit mining at the project site, from drilling and loading to transporting and delivering ore, as well as building roads and operational facilities, according to Oman Observer. The work covers the stages of extracting ore and transporting it to processing facilities, within the scope of responsibilities awarded to Hongda International. The services will run for the full 10-year contract term, linking the Chinese company to a core aspect of the project’s operations over an extended period. The project is located in Yanqul in Al Dhahirah Governorate, according to project details cited by the newspaper. The agreement is part of a broader package of deals announced at the Omani-Chinese Forum in Beijing.
Mazoon’s plans include building a plant capable of processing 2.5 million tonnes of copper ore annually, as part of an integrated project comprising five mines, according to Oman’s Foreign Ministry when groundbreaking took place on 10 November 2024. The project covers an area of 20 square kilometres, the ministry said. This capacity sets the volume of ore the project aims to process each year, while its design links the mines to the processing plant. The mining contract is part of the work required to extract the ore and deliver it to the project’s facilities. The project targets starting copper concentrate production in 2027, according to Oman Observer.
The contract follows progress in developing the site; major earthworks related to the project were completed by May 2026, according to Oman Observer. The work included preparing the ore stockpile and plant structures, enabling the project to move to other development stages. Finland’s Metso was also awarded a package to supply key equipment for the processing plant. The equipment includes crushers, SAG and ball mills, flotation systems and thickening technologies, according to the newspaper. This progress places the mining work covered by the contract within a project whose operational components and processing facilities are being developed in parallel.
The target remains 2027 for starting copper concentrate production, according to Oman Observer, following the company’s announcement that it had awarded mining services for 10 years. The project is based on a plan to process 2.5 million tonnes of ore annually and comprises five mines, according to information announced by Oman’s Foreign Ministry at the 2024 groundbreaking. The contract covers drilling, loading, transporting and delivering ore, while Metso’s package includes equipment for the processing plant. The announced work is thus divided between ore extraction and preparing facilities to convert it into concentrates. The published information does not specify a more precise production start date within 2027.