Oman’s state mining and mineral investment company Minerals Development Oman (MDO) has awarded a major mining operations management contract for the Mazoon Copper Project to Chinese mining contractor Hongda Blasting Engineering Group via its overseas arm Hongda International SPC. The 10-year agreement was valued at more than US$416 million.
The scope of work covers copper ore extraction, waste rock removal, ore handling and transportation to the concentrator plant, plus execution of mining operations in line with technical requirements and safety standards. The deal was announce at the Oman-China Investment Partnership Horizons Forum on November 2.
Hongda Blasting is part of Chinese company Guangdong Handar, established in 1988 with HQs in Guangzhou and Beijing, specialising in integrated mining solutions, including mine design and construction, open-pit and underground mining, ore extraction and processing, with a focus on sustainable mining and smart mining technologies. Its current contracts cover around 100 mining operations and over 4 billion tons annually of open-pit mining and stripping volumes plus 60 Mt of underground mine ore production. This includes its position as the largest contractor in Block I and Block II of Thar Coal Field in Pakistan, plus it is a major supplier of mining services to Zijin Mining Group.
The Mazoon Copper Project is Oman’s largest integrated copper concentrate production project. It is located in the Wilayat of Yanqul, Al Dhahirah Governorate, in the concession area (12A-2), and covers an area of 20 square kilometres. Formerly referred to as the Yanqul Copper Gold Project, it consists of five surface open pit mines with 23.4 Mt of copper ore reserves and is set to commence operations in 2027, producing approximately 115,000 t annually of 21.5% copper concentrate from 2.5 Mt/y of mined ore. Pre-stripping commenced in September 2026.
Lycopodium was awarded the EPCM services contract in late 2023 which was valued at A$45 million. In early 2025, Metso signed an agreement to supply the key process equipment in a US$30 million order. Metso’s delivery for the crushing and grinding circuits consists of Nordberg® C130 jaw and HP200e
cone crushers, apron feeders, SAG and ball mills, and mill reline equipment for safe and easy maintenance.
In addition, the delivery includes TankCell® mechanical flotation cells, high-intensity Concorde CellTM units and HRT thickeners with a ReactorwellTM feed system. For classification, Metso will deliver MHC hydrocyclones. Larox® PF60 and FFP 3512 filters will be supplied for concentrate and tailings filtration. A PSI500i particle size analyser and a Courier® 6X SL on-line elemental analyser will be used for continuous optimization of the grinding and flotation processes to increase recovery and reduce waste.
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