Egypt braces for global gold tender in Eastern Desert within 2017

Egypt will hold a new international tender for gold in seven mining concessions in the Eastern Desert within 2017, Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said Saturday.

This planned move aims to boost the mining sector’s contribution to the Egyptian GDP in the coming years.

Geologists say that Egypt has mineral-rich territory that could be ripe for mining, but investors have said that commercial terms offered in previous tenders were unattractive and have kept the sector underdeveloped.

Last year the government said it wanted mining to increase its contribution to GDP to more than 5 percent from the less than 1 percent currently.