The Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA), affiliated to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, has signed five contracts for gold search and exploration with Canadian and Egyptian companies.
The contracts, the first relating to gold prospecting in Egypt, are worth total investments of an estimated at $13m, and will cover 13 sectors. They are the result of the first global auction put forward by Egypt in 2020, with the results announced last November.
The contracts signed include three with the Canadian Lotus Gold company, an international company working in the field of gold exploration in 11 sectors with a total investment estimated at $9m.
A further contract was signed with the Egyptian Mining and Manufacturing Company (MEDAF) with investments worth $3m. Besides this, another contract was signed with the Egyptian company Ebdaa for Gold Mining, which will see total investments of approximately $1m.
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla said that the signing of Egypt’s first gold prospecting contracts reflects the importance of amendments to the mining legislation and regulations. These, in turn, reflected positively on the investment climate in this sector.
El Molla affirmed that his ministry is keen to provide full support for mining investments, by quickly overcoming challenges. This will also see an end to procedures, to ensure the best results and returns for both sides of these investments.
Moreover, the interest of Egyptian companies to invest in the field of gold exploration is an important addition that enriches mining activity and enhances the role of national capital in this vital area, the minister said.
He further noted that the rest of the contracts will be signed successively during the coming period with the rest of the companies winning the bid.
