Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek el-Molla said on Wednesday work is underway to establish a state-of-the-art certified gold refinery in Mersa Alam, south of the Eastern Desert, to maximize the added value from gold resources and up economic returns from gold production within the mine-to-market value chain.
In statements during his participation in the 8th Consultative Meting of Arab Minister of Mineral Resources, held in Riyadh, the minister said Egypt’s vision to upgrade the mining sector aims at upping volume of local production from 0.5 per cent to 5 per cent within the upcoming two decades, providing job outlets, as well as increasing mining activities through issuing more than 200 mining and excavation licenses annually.
Molla said the mining sector in Egypt is bearing the fruits of economic reform measures introduced by the government.
He highlighted the success of the Mineral Resources International Bid-round No (1) for the year 2020 in luring unprecedented numbers of local and international mining firms to operate in the mining sector in the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea, despite the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, thus stimulating the government’s drive for floating a second bid.
The gathering is organised by the Saudi Ministry of Mineral Resources in collaboration with the Arab Industrial Development Standardisation and Mining Organisation (AIDSMO) to discuss activities of mineral resources sector, an Arab mining guideline draft, an Arab initiative for metals used in clean energy technologies, along with the organisation’s main achievements on this score.
