Al Hadeetha Resources LLC, a partnership of Al Hadeetha Investment of the Sultanate of Oman and Alara Resources Limited, an Australian mining firm, has reported continued progress in its construction and procurement activities at the Wash-hi Majaza copper-gold project in Al Mudhaibi Wilayat in North Al Sharqiyah Governorate. Alara owns a 51 per cent equity interest in the joint venture developing the project.
After formal commissioning of pre-stripping of Wash-hi Majaza pit in February 2022, pre-production activities at mine site during the month continued to focus on the following: Topsoil over the first cut area of pit stockpiled and stored for post mine rehabilitation; First blast carried out under the supervision of Royal Oman Police; Excavation and transport of overburden and construction of waste rock dump platforms; Extraction of top copper oxide ore and separate storage; Excavation of 1200m long water diversion channel; and Construction of haul roads from the pit to waste dumping areas.
Total cumulative capex stands at $53.6 million in February 2022 which accounts for about 70 per cent of total procurement packages, the company said in a statement. Contracts for equipment and services have been awarded to companies in as far afield as China and India to Finland and Italy and also Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Manufacturing of all major items has commenced and inspections have been completed for many key electrical components, such as crushers and several more which are in the pipeline in March. Additionally, general construction contracts have now been awarded and site preparatory works have begun, it further noted.
Atmavireshwar Sthapak, Managing Director – Alara Resources, said: “We are very pleased to report the progress we are making across all fronts in Oman. While we have continued to achieve major milestones at Al Wash-hi Majaza project’s construction, operations of Alara Resources LLC are also expanding via the securing of external drilling contracts. We look forward to keeping the market updated on our construction of what will be a world-class copper-gold mining project.”
