$1 billion.. Annual investments in gold exploration
The past two years witnessed the signing of 15 new contracts with international and local companies for exploration and gold production in Egypt.
Shrouq
Saudi giant Ma'aden plans to invest in the Egyptian mining sector, as part of the strategies of the largest mining company in the Gulf to invest around the world.
Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla announced that a representative of the company will visit Egypt within 10 days to explore opportunities for investment in the sector.
• Mining sector
The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources explained that the mining sector represents less than 0.5% of Egypt's GDP.
He indicated that the government is ready to increase the contribution to 5 percent by 2030.
• billion dollars in the gold exploration sector
Al-Mulla revealed that the Ministry of Petroleum is looking forward to attracting annual investments worth one billion dollars in the gold exploration sector.
The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources revealed that the production of the "Sukari" gold mine reaches 15 tons annually, announcing that his country is working with the Australian "Centamin" mining company, which operates the mine, to expand gold exploration and prospecting in the areas adjacent to the "Sukari" mine.
• Sukari gold reserves
Egypt has a history of gold exploration dating back to the era of the Pharaohs, but it now has only one commercial gold mine, Sukari in the eastern desert. The Sukari mine contributes up to $900 million to the Egyptian economy annually.
Tariq Al-Mulla said that the past two years witnessed the signing of 15 new contracts with international and local companies for gold exploration and production.
The reserves of the "Sukari" gold mine in Egypt increased by 1.3 million ounces, to reach 11.11 million ounces, according to the latest indicators of the mine's resources. The value of these reserves, at today's price, is about $20 billion, half of which goes to the Egyptian government based on the agreement with the excavating company.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is looking forward to attracting $1 billion in investments annually to the gold exploration sector, and has launched two bidding rounds for this purpose.
The first resulted in the winning of 11 companies (7 international and 4 Egyptian), while 4 international and local companies won the second bid for exploration in the Eastern Desert.
