Sukari mine’s production of gold reaches 108.8 tons: Centamin

CAIRO – 15 July 2018: Production from Egypt’s Sukari Gold Mine has reached 108.8 tons of gold since the mine started production in 2010 and until June 2018, General Manager of Centamin Egypt and Managing Director of Sukari Gold Mining Company Youssef el-Raghy said.

Raghy clarified that the production recorded 1.1 tons of gold in June 2018.

At the beginning of July, Centamin announced that production at Egypt’s Sukari Gold Mine declined 25 percent during the second quarter of 2018, recording 92,800 ounces, compared to 124,600 ounces during the same period of 2017.

The company attributed this decrease to the low quality of the gold-bearing material, expecting the production to increase during the second half of 2018.

Despite the decreased production, Centamin announced that it has cracked nearly 18.415 million tons of rocks, compared to 17.793 million tons in the second quarter of 2017.

It added that the company will keep the gold production in 2018 at levels between 505,000 and 515,000 ounces.

General Manager of Centamin Egypt and Managing Director of Sukari Gold Mining Company Raghy said previously that production at Egypt’s Sukari Gold Mine has reached 107.7 tons of gold since the mine started production in 2010 and until May 2018.

Raghy added that Egypt received a total of $309.2 million on profit account and tribute from the Sukari Gold Mine.

While the Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority (EMRA) took a total of $196.6 million on profit account from the Sukari Gold Mine since the start of dividing profits between Centamin Egypt Company and the Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority (EMRA) in October 2016 and until May 2018, he clarified.

EMRA has received $1.1 million on profit account from the Sukari Gold Mine during May 2018, according to a previous statement by Raghy.

He noted that EMRA received a total tribute of $112.6 million from the start of the production until the end of last December.

According to the agreement between the company and EMRA, The Egyptian authority receives a 3 percent tribute of the total production of the mine.

Established in 2005, Sukari Gold Mining Company is a joint venture between the Australian Centamin Company and the Mineral Resources Authority, based on an agreement between the company and the government in 1994.

According to Schedule, Centamin Egypt, which operates the Sukari Gold Mine, is targeting to pay some $137 million to the Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority (EMRA) in 2018.

Raghy added that Sukari mine’s total gold production recorded 106.7 tons since the beginning of production in 2010 until last April, clarifying that April’s production reached 1.2 tons.
Exports of Sukari Gold Mine represent 2 percent of the Egyptian exports balance, according to Centamin official reports.

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

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

In accordance with the terms of the Concession Agreement, EMRA is entitled to share 50 percent of the Sukari mine’s net production surplus.

The government said earlier 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.

Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Tarek el-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.

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.