Gulf Mining Group, a major mining corporation in Oman, plans to establish the Sultanate’s first manganese ferroalloy smelter at Sohar, a report said.

The initiative, coupled with a separate plan to triple the capacity of its existing ferrochrome smelter at Sohar Port and Freezone, will entail a combined investment ranging up to $100 million, Mohammed Yahya al Shabibi, chief executive officer of Gulf Mining Group, was quoted as saying in an Oman Observer report.

He said the proposed manganese ferroalloy smelter will be constructed adjacent to ferrochrome smelter owned by subsidiary Gulf Mining Ferro Alloy (GMFA) at the free zone.

“In the first phase, we aim to start with 4,000 tonnes of manganese ferroalloy, although plant capacity will depend on the size of our manganese reserves. Proven deposits are estimated at 1.5-2 million tonnes of manganese, which will be processed and value-added similar to how we are value-adding our chrome ore resources,” Al Shabibi told the Observer.

Gulf Mining also plans to step up the capacity of its ferrochrome smelting operations at Sohar to 150,000 tonnes per annum, up from the present 50,000 tonnes, the report said.