The Egypt Mining Forum kicked off yesterday, bringing together over 4k attendees for 15 sessions with over 50 speakers to discuss the mining market’s potential and to unveil ambitious plans for the sector. Enterprise was in attendance and spoke to some of the biggest players in the market — Here’s everything you need to know about the first day of the forum.

SHALATEEN TO ANNOUNCE TENDER WINNER NEXT MONTH-

We’ll finally learn who was awarded the four-time extended Shalateen gold exploration tender. The company will announce the results of the tender in August and then quickly follow that with a fresh tender also for exploration in the Eastern Desert, Chairman Sherif El Shahawy told Enterprise.

Demand was high: Some 12 companies — including some that have never worked in the Egyptian market before — took out the tender’s conditions booklet, he said, explaining that the many delays the tender witnessed caused some of them to withdraw their applications.

Shalateen to significantly up gold deliveries to the CBE this year: State-owned Shalateen Mineral Resources Company wants to deliver 1.2 tons of gold — worth EGP 2.6 bn — to the Central Bank of Egypt this year, El Shahawy said. The figure would mark a 60% y-o-y increase from the720 kg of gold — worth EGP 1.3 bn — delivered last year.

Breaking ground on Aswan mining complex: El Shahawy told us that his company has started construction works on its EGP 350 mn industrial mining complex in Aswan, adding that the complex should be ready for operation next May.

ATON PUSHES BACK GOLD PRODUCTION DATE-

Mark your calendar for 2026: Canadian gold miner Aton Resources now expects to start extracting gold from its Abu Marawat concession in the Eastern Desert by 2026, CEO Tonno Vahk told Enterprise. We were expecting the company to start extraction a year earlier as per unconfirmed reports. The company will invest some USD 25 mn this year to build the mine, Vahk said, adding that “we also have to invest about the same amount in the next two, three years into exploration and drilling. Because we are going to be running separate drill programs in parallel.”

Who’s paying? The company is in talks with a number of development banks to help it secure the required funds, he added.

KSA expansion next? “We are planning to start projects in Saudi Arabia … maybe this year,” Vahk told us, adding that the company is looking to form a partnership to participate in bids for gold exploration licenses.

ANOTHER CANADIAN MINER TO START DRILLING SOON-

Red Sea Resources to start drilling soon: Egypt-focused Canadian gold miner Red SeaResources will start drilling for gold — in the five blocks it was awarded back in 2020 — “in the near future,” Chairman Allan Fabbro told Enterprise. The company could invest about USD 2.5 mn during the remainder of 2024 and up to USD 10 mn in 2025 if its drilling tests prove successful.

ALSO FROM THE FORUM-

#1- A mining digital investment platform: The Oil Ministry is working on a digital platform for mining investments as part of its efforts to create a more attractive investment platform for the mining sector, Oil Minister Karim Badawi said during the forum. The platform kicked off trial operations yesterday at the forum and will go live by the end of the year.

Turning the Eastern Desert into a regional gold hub: The government is also looking into building a gold refinery and logistics center in the Eastern Desert, part of the ministry’s broader plan to increase the mining sector’s contribution to the GDP to 5% from less than 1% at the moment, Badawi said.

#2- Centamin to launch mining school: LSE- and TSX-listed gold mining company Centamin plans to establish Egypt’s first mining school, Centamin CEO Martin Horgan announced. The school — which will be set up in cooperation with Elsewedy Technical Academy — is expected to kick off operations for the 2025-2026 academic year.

#3- Newmont — the world’s largest gold miner — is mulling entry into the Egyptian market, an unnamed government official told Asharq Business. Pending parliamentary approval, Newmont seeks to sign gold exploration contracts akin to those previously inked with Canada’s Barrick Gold and Centamin around three years ago.

#4- Saudi-based mining company AGC is eyeing a stake in AFAQ Mining, which owns the rights to a concession in West Gabal Elbah, AGC Chairman Khalid Al Jahdali told Asharq Business on the sidelines of the Egypt Mining Forum, without sharing any details about the exact size of the stake.

SPEAKING OF- AFAQ Mining to invest USD 40 mn on gold explorations in Egypt over the coming three years, AFAQ Holding Chairman Amr El Marsafawy told Asharq Business.

A WHOLE LOTTA COOPERATION PROTOCOLS-

Four cooperation protocols: Several state-owned and private players in the mining sector inked cooperation protocols on the sidelines of the forum that includes: An agreement between the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA), the National Company for Telecommunications Services (NCTS), and the Egyptian Maintenance Company to provide communication solutions for the authority and its companies; An agreement between EMRA and EK Mining to invest in value-added mining activities; An agreement between Shalateen Mineral Resources and the Desert Research Center to exchange expertise; An agreement between the New Valley Company for Mineral Resources and Diyar Engineering to provide project management consultation.

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