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News
NMC commemorates its First
Saleable Copper Concentrate
The 11th May, 2007 was a very special day
for National Mining Company (NMC). It was the
day that the company first produced saleable
copper concentrate from its Lasail
concentrator. NMC was first established in
1997 and has consistently and patiently
progressed towards this day ever since with
the support and guidance of the MB Holding
Chairman, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Al Barwani.
To mark this auspicious occasion, NMC CEO Mr
Philip Anthony Condon presented to Sheikh
Mohammed a specially prepared commemorative
trophy containing the very first copper
concentrate to come off the product conveyor
that the Lasail concentrator and therefore the
first ever copper concentrate that National
Mining Company has produced. It was a truly
proud moment for all - and rightly so!
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NMC is now a true mining
company
National Mining Company (NMC) became a full
fledged mining company after it produced its
first copper concentrate on 11 May 2007, sold
it and subsequently received its first sales
revenues.
The first copper concentrate produced by
National Mining Company at its Lasail
concentrator marked the beginning of the final
stage of the passage of NMC to a fully
operational mining company. NMC was first
formed in 1997. This is a truly historic
occasion for the company and its employees,
the shareholders and Oman.
NMC’s CEO, Mr. Philip Anthony Condon, said:
The production and sale of copper concentrate
represents the final phase of a long and
determined path to economic benefit for the
region and Oman. This road to success had many
challenges but through teamwork, planning and
commitment, NMC has succeeded in achieving a
very significant milestone.”
NMC purchased the Lasail concentrator from
OMCO in 2005 and refurbished it over the next
two years. It has now produced its first
concentrate in over 12 years. It receives
uncrushed copper bearing ore from the NMC
Hatta/Shinas copper mine via road transport
and crushes and processes the ore into a
copper concentrate containing approximately 22
per cent copper. This concentrate will be sold
both locally in Oman and internationally.
The commissioning phase of the concentrator
faced significant challenges to get to
production. The very heavy rains in March
impacted the construction of the tailings dam.
As a result, modifications and redesigning
were required. The Ministry of Environment
provided the final authorization to discharge
thereafter and the final stage of
commissioning thus began. The operation and
construction of the facility is now
progressing.
Mr. Condon added: “NMC plans to produce around
22,000 tonnes of copper per year from the
Lasail concentrator. The first priority is to
consolidate and bed down the operation after
commissioning is completed. From there, a
capacity expansion project will begin to
increase the copper ore capacity from 80t/hr
to 130t/hr. It is anticipated that this
project would be completed in March 2008.
In the meantime, the mining operation will
continue to ramp up production rates at the
Hatta pit. In addition, the Shinas copper
deposit will be developed and should be on
line somewhere towards the third quarter of
2008.
Looking further into the future, the Ghuzayn
concession is being developed by the NMC
exploration team and it is expected that it
can be converted into a proven reserve and
developed throughout 2008.
Strategically, it is intended that NMC will go
through a rapid growth phase over the coming
years. A head office will be established in
Muscat, additions to revenue streams will be
added to the NMC operations through further
utilisation of available reserves and
significant up-scaling of operations and
exploration activities both within Oman and
internationally. The ultimate aim being that
NMC will be an established and internationally
recognized and diversified mining company over
the next three to five years. It will have a
spectrum of operations both within Oman and
abroad and a significant and growing reserve
base.”
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Boost for private-led mining enterprise in the
Sultanate
National Mining kicks off development of
copper ore deposits with a bang
 MUSCAT – Marking a new era in private-led
mining activities in the Sultanate, National
Mining Company (NMC) formally launched
operations this week targeting rich copper
sulphide deposits in its north Oman
concession.
This Monday (7th August) saw NMC have its
first blast at small ceremony at its Ajib pit,
near Shinas. The ceremony was attended by the
Sheik, Jumma Abdullah Hassan Al Washahi, and
elders of the Ajib village, Senior
Representative of MB Holdings, Usama Barwani,
NMC CEO, Franz Schlosser, NMC senior
management and workers of the mining
operations.
 Ajib is one of two sites where NMC has
discovered substantial deposits of copper ore,
with associated gold and silver. Development
of these reserves, along with other potential
mineral deposits, will provide a new stimulus
to Oman’s fledgling mining sector, according
to CEO of NMC.
“This is indeed a historic moment for Oman’s
mining industry in general, and National
Mining Company, in particular,” Franz
Schlosser, Chief Executive Officer of NMC,
remarked. “Our project
will not only help
develop Oman’s credentials as a producer of
valuable metals like copper, but on the
national level it will also create jobs and
contribute to socio-economic growth in the Sohar-Shinas area.”
 NMC’s Block 1 concession, situated at the
northern
end of the Hajar mountains, is
estimated to hold some 2.5 million tonnes of
copper ore, with around 2.5 per cent of
copper, along with commercially recoverable
amounts of gold and silver. These deposits are
located at Ajib and Shinas, near Oman’s border
with the United Arab Emirates.
“We have done extra drilling which indicates
that the reserves could be increased by about
25 per cent. Further geophysical exploration
is ongoing, which may add to our estimates of
ore deposits. We hope to firm up these
findings by carrying out drilling work in the
next few months,” Mr. Schlosser said.
 The ore will be trucked to Lasail, some 83km
away, where NMC is currently refurbishing a
copper concentrator acquired from state-owned
Oman Mining Company (OMCO). Shut down by OMCO
some 12 years ago, the facility is being
upgraded at a significant cost to ensure a
viable operational life.
“We hope to have the concentrator up and
running by around late November, and to start
producing copper concentrates by the year-end.
At the moment, we envisage that most of the
concentrates will go to the OMCO smelter
located next to Lasail. Negotiations with OMCO
are ongoing on the question of whether the
concentrates will be sold outright to the
latter, or only processed at its facility
against a toll-processing fee.”
 Significantly, NMC is investing in excess of
$30 million in developing its Block 1
concession and in the upgrade of the Lasail
concentrator. Output is targeted at an
impressive 22,000 tonnes of copper per year,
along with some 8,000 ounces of gold. “With
the current international prices of copper, we
are confident that this project will add value
to all stakeholders,” said the CEO.
Early next year, NMC plans to begin
development of potential copper reserves at
Ghuzayn, which falls in another concession
acquired by the company. “Geophysical surveys
indicate that there could be a sizeable
deposit out
 there. If that’s proven up, it
will probably entail the construction of a new
concentrator, which we intend to start
feasibility studies, engineering and
negotiations with authorities and community
groups early in the new year. Investment in
this new project could be in excess of $50
million to get the project up and running,
which includes the cost of the concentrator.”
NMC, a privately owned subsidiary of
well-known oilfield services company M B
Petroleum, is aiming to be a pioneer in the
field of private enterprise mineral resource
investment in the Sultanate. The company is
keenly exploring opportunities for mineral
development elsewhere around the country.
 “We are looking further a field for more
copper and other
mineral projects in Oman.
There is a lot of prospectivity in the country
and we intend to study the potential for
further investment in this area. As a metal
mining company, our interests are not limited
to copper alone, but other commercially
attractive minerals as well,” Mr. Schlosser
stated.
The company is also looking to partner with
local Omani companies to supply aggregate
grade material for the construction industry
that will be generated during the mining
operations. For every truckload of mined
copper ore, some four trucks of aggregate
material will be produced, thereby adding
value to the operation while also minimising
any environmental impact, says the CEO.
 Importantly, NMC’s operations will also create
substantial jobs. “We see the potential for
recruiting around 300 people to handle the
exploration, mining, concentrator operation
and administrative aspects of our operation.
Most of the operational functions will be in
the hands of Omanis who will mainly come from
the local area. They will be trained to
operate the modern mining and treatment
equipment that we will be installing,” Mr.
Schlosser stated.
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