Oman’s first antimony smelter project is set for cold commissioning next month, paving the way for the sultanate’s elevation into a select group of global producers of a strategically important metal.

The metal is widely used in the industrial, electronics and plastics sectors, said a report.

Construction of the Oman Antimony Roaster (OAR), a $100 million investment by Strategic & Precious Metals Processing LLC (SPMP), is nearing completion at Sohar Freezone, added the Oman Daily Observer report.

When operational, the 20,000-tonnes-per-annum capacity project will account for a significant chunk of total global production of antimony products and position the sultanate as a world-scale producer, it said.

The company confirmed that the OAR project remains on budget and on schedule. Cold commissioning is expected to start in January 2018.

SPMP revealed that commitments to supply concentrates have been received from a number of suppliers to enable the facility to ramp-up to design capacity by the end of 2018.

Oman-based SPMP is a partnership of Oman Investment Fund (OIF), a sovereign wealth fund of the Sultanate, with a 40 per cent equity interest in the company; Tri-Star Resources, a London-based mining development firm, also with a 40 per cent stake; and DNR Industrials Ltd, part of Dubai-based investment and project development corporation Dutco Group of Companies (Dutco), with the balance 20 per cent.