Thursday, 25th January 2007 (3110 views)

The gold mining sector in Egypt is set to undergo a major restructuring programme following the announcement that its government had signed a memorandum of understanding on January 24th.

Aimed at making foreign investment more of a viable proposition, the memorandum was signed by oil minister Sameh Fahmy as well as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) - the World Bank's private arm.

Estimates put the benefits at some $10 billion (£5.07 million) and the attempts at strengthening the country's economy could be enforced by next year.

Mr Fahmy spoke of his commitment to the restructure plans: "This is a very important step in restructuring the sector, which has huge potential... and the current legislation could not sustain the restructuring efforts."

Potential for gold production on a large scale is underlined by the fact that Australian mining company Centamin's property in Egypt's eastern desert has a resource of over 7.7 million ounces of gold.

Centamin has been exploring for gold in Egypt since 1995 the company says that ongoing drilling work at the property is expected to confirm that gold resources will be increased.

 

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