Centamin’s Sukari Gold Mine Operates Normally: Al-Raghy

Centamin Plc (LSE:CEY)’s Sukari Gold Mine in Egypt is operating as normal as the company prepares to appeal yesterday’s court decision annulling its 18-year-old contract, Public Relations Director Esmat Al-Raghy said.

Al-Raghy negated that Tuesday’s court decision would reversely affect the work on the gold mine.

After the administrative court issued its preliminary ruling yesterday, Centamin’s London-listed shares fell as much as 59 percent, the most on record. Trading of the stock has since been suspended.

The Cairo court said on Tuesday the state-run Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) didn’t exercise enough oversight on gold-extraction operations, and that Egypt’s share of the profits is too low.

“The court rules as invalid the contract to exploit the Sukari mine,” the judge said, adding the court also ruled that a decision by the authorities to offer a 30-year contract and to allow it to be renewed was also void.

Centamin signed a 50-50 joint venture agreement with EMRA in 1994 under the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising last year.
In the meanwhile,Yousef Al Raghi, the mine’s managing director, said in a phone interview on Wednesday “We are not worried, and have the support of the government,” He said the court wasn’t empowered to overturn the concession agreement.