CAIRO, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Egypt signed on Thursday five contracts for gold exploration with an investment of 13 million U.S. dollars, the Ministry of Petroleum, Mining, and Mineral Resources said in a statement.
The contracts resulted from Egypt's first international bidding for gold exploration held in 2020, involving Canada's Lotus Gold and Egyptian-Kuwaiti Mining and Mabufacturing Company (MEDAF), according to the ministry statement.
The companies will work in 13 areas in the Eastern Desert, the statement said.
"The move is a translation of the amendments in the mining investment regulations and legislation which have positively reflected on the investment climate and helped put Egypt on the world map of gold mining," it explained.
In November 2020, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla announced that 11 companies including seven international ones won the exploration bids for gold in the Eastern Desert, with a minimum investment of 60 million dollars for the first stage of exploration.
He said more international bidding would take place in March 2021 for mining iron, phosphate, white sand, zink, and potassium salt in an area near Lake Nasser in southern Egypt. Enditem
