Australian mining firm Alara Resources Ltd is moving towards construction of site infrastructure at the 70% owned Al Hadeetha copper-gold project in Oman. Construction of a 1mn tonne per annum copper concentrator and other site infrastructure is planned to commence during 1Q17. Alara has also identified project financing options in excess of the forecast capex, having already invested USD9mn with its joint venture partner. Financing is subject to the issuance of the mining licence and Alara is not aware of any reason why the licence could not be issued in order to meet first production, scheduled for 2018, the company said in a press release. (Oman Observer)