Oman Chromite, a publicly traded firm which is partly owned by the wholly government-owned Mineral Development Oman (MDO), has received eight new exploration licenses from the Public Authority for Mining (PAM), said a report.

The move could help offset dwindling resources at its existing sites, added the Oman Daily Observer report.

Oman Chromite’s chairman Qais bin Mohammed al Yousef noted that new sites are currently being studied for their resource potential with the results expected to be known during the course of this year.

Set up by Royal Decree as a joint stock company in July 1991, Oman Chromite managed to produce 19,545 metric tonnes of chromite ore in 2019, which was marginally lower than the previous year’s output of 20,020 tonnes.

He added that this was due to the decrease in chromite reserves in the existing sites and the high level of waste material that must be removed before reaching the chrome ore.