ROCKS, MINERALS, AND MEMORIES: MY 40 YEARS IN OMAN - A MEMOIR

This memoir chronicles Dr. Hayat A. Qidwai’s four decades in Oman and uses his career as a lens to assess the country’s mineral potential and the institutional choices that shaped its development. Arriving in 1979 to lead uranium exploration in Dhofar, he describes early fieldwork, airborne radiometric surveys, and the risks of ground follow-up in remote terrain. He then traces the expansion of Oman’s geological knowledge base through systematic mapping at multiple scales and the identification of industrial minerals such as limestone, gypsum, , Gsilica sand, kaolin, laterite, dolomite, and quartzite. Across the 1990s and 2000s, the narrative shifts from exploration to industrialization: feasibility studies for glass-grade silica, ceramic raw materials, and silicon metal; initiatives in salt and chlor-alkali value chains; and the emergence of projects that did succeed, including laterite supply for cement and the establishment of a local ceramic tiles industry. The author also details major opportunities that stalled—often not for geological reasons, but due to bureaucratic delays, fragmented decision-making, limited technical capacity, inconsistent gas allocation, and a “trading mentality” that favored short-term sales over downstream investment. In the final section, after leaving government service in 2010, Dr. Qidwai recounts his work in the private sector in attracting international partners and structuring large-scale quarry and industrial projects. The book concludes with practical recommendations: streamline licensing, strengthen technical governance, improve data and laboratory infrastructure, and prioritize value addition so Oman’s resources translate into sustainable industries, jobs, and long-term national capability.