Muscat: Oman could issue a new mining law soon to regulate the mining industry, according to an official at the Commerce and Industry ministry.
Speaking to Gulf News the official said it will include more regulations to regulate the sector which is a very important and lucrative industry for the country.
A recent Majlis Al Shura report revealed the sector has not been capitalised to its potential. According to the report, Oman’s mines have huge quantities of industrial metals such as limestone, dolomite, gypsum, gabbro rocks and quartzite rocks.
It also said that failure to fully utilise the sector has led to tens of millions of riyals of revenue loss. Poor regulation and the exploitation of companies has caused a shortage in local market quarries. The shortage has led to a sharp rise in construction material prices, the report found, citing at least 169 violations reported against local mining companies.
Statistics show the total value of metals produced from 2011 to 2013 was nearly a half a billion Omani riyals.
The new law will put in place more regulations to protect the mining sector as well as heftier fines and jail terms for violators.
