Mineral Resources Authority sells Sukari mine’s scrap for LE 80M

CAIRO – 17 April 2018: Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority sold the scrap of Sukari mine for LE 80 million ($4.5 million), in favor of National Service Projects Organization, according to an official source in the authority.

The source said that the sales operation aimed at maximizing the authority’s revenues and Egypt’s national income.

The sales operations were carried out through a limited practice called for by the authority, within the framework of cooperation between the authority and the National Service Projects Organization.

Sukari mine’s scrap includes a number of broken down tools and equipment, as well as the industrial waste that existed at the company’s site in Marsa Allam.

General Manager of Centamin Company Youssif el-Raghy previously said that gold production at Sukari mine has recorded 105.5 tons at the end of March since 2010.

Raghy clarified that Sukari mine’s total production in March reached 1.4 tons.

Centamin Company announced earlier that Sukari mine’s gold production reached 124,296 ounces during the first quarter of 2018, with an increase of 14 percent, compared to the same quarter of 2017.

It said that on a quarter-on-quarter basis, gold production decreased 19 percent.

CEO of Centamin Andrew Pardey attributed the decrease of the production on a quarter on quarter basis to the transitional zone of the open pit delivering lower than expected grades.

Pardey added that the company maintains a full year production guidance of 580,000 ounces.

Two companies are operating in Egypt right now to produce gold, which are Australian Pharaonic Company (Centamin) that operates in the Sukari mine and Cyprus-based Mats Holdings, which operates in the Hamsh mine.

For exploration and drilling for gold, other two gold companies are operating in Egypt, which are Canadian Aton Mining and UAE’s Thani Dubai.

Sukari Gold Mine, the country's sole gold-exporting mine, started operations in January 2010, with an average monthly production of 1.2-1.5 tons of gold.

Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said in late December that the Sukari Gold Mine has contributed a total of $250 million in revenues to the government since it started production in 2009.

The government said that it aims to increase the mining sector's contribution to the GDP to more than 5 percent. It currently contributes around 0.5 percent of the GDP.

Molla said that the government is working to identify the challenges facing the sector and that his ministry aims to boost investments by amending the sector's administrative and legislative systems.

Located in the south-easternmost region of the Eastern Desert, Sukari mine is the first large-scale modern gold mine in Egypt, with a base case production rate of about 500,000 ounces per annum, according to the official website of Centamin.