Miners on course to unravel Egypt’s gold treasuries, Reuters

Mining companies awarded blocks in Egypt’s Eastern Desert are set to start exploring for gold under a legislative overhaul that seeks eventually to unlock vast untapped mineral resources.

Despite plentiful reserves and a rich mining history that gave rise to elaborate Pharaonic gold jewellery, Egypt has just one commercial gold mine in operation. Foreign investment in oil and gas has grown, but mining has languished.

Now, the country is banking on high gold prices and amended mining laws that scrap red tape and a profit-sharing rule, unpopular in the industry, to lure interest.

Altus Strategies could invest as much as $ 200 mn in Egypt if it makes a commercially viable discovery in its new gold exploration concessions, Reuters reports.

Akh Gold, a subsidiary of the Naguib Sawiris-backed company, landed four exploration licenses for nine blocks in the Eastern Desert in February and expects to spend several mn USD on exploration activities.

The company will expand its technical team and conduct remote sensing and mapping operations in its concessions, it told the newswire.

The UK-based company was awarded the licenses as part of a gold exploration tender the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) launched in March of last year which saw 82 exploration blocks given to 11 companies.