Four more foreign companies want to participate in Egypt’s upcoming gold mining tender, according to an Oil Ministry statement. The leaders of Canada’s Forbes & Manhattan Group and Franco-Nevada Corporation, as well as US-based giants Newmont Corporation and Barrick Gold, have shown enthusiasm in meetings last week with Oil Minister Tarek El Molla, who was at the PDAC mining conference in Toronto earlier this month drumming up interest. The companies join a growing list of potential investors including Centamin, US-based Sprott and Canada’s Kinross Gold. The ministry plans to launch on 15 March gold exploration tender covering 56 sqm of the Eastern Desert.