Egypt’s Al-Sisi ratifies laws allowing Petroleum Ministry to search for gold
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has ratified seven laws allowing the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources to contract with the Egyptian General Authority for Mineral Resources as well as Shalateen Mineral Resources Company to search for and exploit gold and associated minerals in the Eastern Desert.
This includes research and exploitation of these minerals in the area of Jabal Iqat, Jabal Al-Jarf, Jabal Masih, Jabal Elba, the Aswan region of the Eastern Desert, as well as the Hamata, Atoud, and Wadi Allaqi regions. The presidential ratification which were published in the Official Gazette came days after the House of Representatives headed by Speaker of the House Hanafy Al-Gebaly approved a number of laws allowing the Petroleum Ministry to research and exploit gold and minerals.
Gold exploitation
It is worth noting that the Jabal Iqat mining area is a promising area in terms of of natural resource deposits, the most important of which is gold. The ministry asserted that Egypt has a minimum reserve estimated at more than 1m ounces of gold, with total investments exceeding $1bn.
Most gold mines in Egypt today were exploited for high-grade gold (15 g/t gold or greater) by the ancient Egyptians, however, there has been limited exploration that applies modern day techniques where deposits can be viable based on gold grades as low as 0.5 g/t (provided there is sufficient tonnage and readily available infrastructure).
