Mahab 4 and Maqail South mine developments to proceed in Oman

Posted by Daniel Gleeson on 14th May 2018

Savannah Resources reports the issuance of letters of no objection from all eight Ministries for both the Mahab 4 and Maqail South mining licence applications.  Savannah is a 65% shareholder in the Omani company Al Fairuz Mining LLC, the holder of the Block 5 exploration licence which includes these two high-grade copper deposits.

  • Letters of approval or “No Objection” received from all eight Ministries for the Maqail South and Mahab 4 Mining Licence applications
  • Excellent progress towards the grant of mining licences for the first two of a planned series of high-grade copper mine developments in Oman
  • Savannah will now seek to conclude the licensing process with the Public Authority of Mining (PAM) for the issuance of the two Mining Licences.

Savannah’s CEO, David Archer said: “We are delighted that the Maqail South and Mahab 4 mine developments have each now obtained all eight Ministerial sign-offs as we seek to conclude the mine licensing process with PAM.

“In light of the very favourable copper price environment and strong interest from potential off-takers for high-quality copper concentrate, we are excited to be moving closer to being the first new copper mine development in Oman for a number of years and look forward to finalising the licensing process with PAM.

“Alongside our licensing progress, we have been participating in the government sponsored Tanfeedh Labs sessions, which have provided an excellent opportunity to bring together all stakeholders related to the mining industry in Oman and provided an industry sounding board for the proposed new mining law in Oman, which is moving towards adoption and is focussed on making Oman’s mining environment more attractive to investors and supporting the development of the industry in-country.  This is something we are of course very supportive of as we believe it is an opportune time to be bringing two new mines on-stream in Oman.”

The process for permitting mining activities in Oman is administered through the PAM.  Upon submission of the mining licence application, approval or (no objection) is required from eight Ministries and PAM for the licence to be granted.  Approvals or no objection letters have now been obtained from all eight of the required ministries for the Maqail South and Mahab 4 applications.  Discussions are now underway with PAM to move towards the award of mining licences.