Duqm has potential to emerge as major minerals hub: CEO

for industrial ventures, such as cement and clinker plants, glass manufacturing, and so on. Indeed, given all of these possibilities, Duqm has the potential to emerge as a major minerals hub,” said Broers.

Investors, the CEO explains, can leverage the port’s ideal geographical location and multimodal connectivity to access markets across the Middle East, Indian subcontinent and East Africa. “We have an excellent road network connecting north and south Oman. Moreover, with a major rail network proposed to connect Oman with the rest of the GCC, all of the major markets in the Gulf will be within reach.”

According to the official, near limitless quantities of limestone — a key raw material in cement and steel production, among other applications — have been discovered barely 15 kilometres from the port. Also plentiful are high quality limestone deposits that can be polished and used as ornamental stone.

Dolomite, which is widely used in the construction sector and has various industrial applications as well, can be found in outcrops, especially in the Buah Formation some 25 km from the port. Industrial grade dolomite deposits are also abundant in south Oman.

Also available are vast quantities of gypsum, which has a variety of industrial and agricultural uses. Huge deposits have been struck in Ghaba and Shuwaymiyah, said Broers.

Silica sand, a resource widely used in the manufacture of glass, can be found in prodigious quantities within distance of the port. In Haushi, about 180km north of Duqm Port, geological surveys have pointed to the presence of 5-6 million tons of kaolin, a raw material for the cement industry. Small-scale mining of this mineral is already underway, yielding around 50,000 tons of kaolin annually, he said.

Sizable deposits of attapulgite have been discovered in Shuwaymiyah, some 350km south of Duqm.

A cylindrically shaped clay mineral, attapulgite has unique gelling and absorption characteristics. It is