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Production of minerals, especially mineral fuels, was an
essential component of Oman’s economy in 2011. Oman was
the seventh ranked crude oil producer and the fifth ranked
producer of natural gas in the Middle East region and accounted
for about 1.1% and 0.8% of total world production, respectively.
Oman exported such minerals and mineral-based commodities
as aluminum building materials, chromite, gold, gypsum,
laterite (low-grade iron ore used for cement), limestone, marble,
silver, and urea in addition to crude oil, natural gas, and refined
petroleum products. The country also produced cement, clay,
iron and steel, quartz, salt, and silica sand mainly for domestic
use (table 1; BP p.l.c., 2012, p. 8, 10, and 22).
Although mining activity had been ongoing in Oman since the
Bronze Age more than 4,000 years ago, the country’s mineral
resources are still relatively untapped, and vast reserves of
metals and industrial minerals are present. Oman’s mountains
host large intact and exposed ophiolites, which contain
such metal deposits as chromite, cobalt, copper, gold, lead,
magnesium, manganese, nickel, palladium, platinum, silver,
vanadium, and zinc. Gypsum resources and reserves were
estimated to exceed 1 billion metric tons (Gt) of gypsum in the
southern region of Oman, including 165 million metric tons
(Mt) of minable gypsum in the Shuwaymiyah area (Industrial
Minerals, 2010; Oman Daily Observer, 2010).
Minerals in the National Economy
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased in
real terms by 5.5% in 2011 compared with a revised 4.0% in
2010. The hydrocarbon sector, which made up 51% of Oman’s
GDP, increased in value by 3.8% in 2011 compared with an
increase of 5.5% in 2010. Oman’s economic growth was driven
by higher crude oil prices, which averaged $102.95 per barrel
in 2011 compared with $76.64 per barrel in 2010, and by an
increase of 3% in the volume of crude oil and condensate
production. The value of oil and gas revenues equaled 38.8% of
the GDP and accounted for 86.8% of Government revenue. The
nonoil sector, which contributed 49% of the GDP, increased in
value by 11.4% compared with an increase of 11.0% in 2010 in
current (2011) prices. The share of the industrial sector, which
included aluminum, nitrogen fertilizer, and steel manufacturing,
in the overall GDP decreased to 16.5% in 2011 from 17.9%
in 2010. Mining and quarrying, which made up 2.5% of the
nonoil industrial sector activity, decreased in value by 2.9% in
2011 compared with an increase of 2.3% in 2010. The value
of building and construction activity, which made up 9% of
the activity of the nonoil industrial sector, increased by 5.8%
compared with an increase of 2.1% in 2010 (Central Bank of
Oman,