Egypt plans to develop industrial mining cities for the extraction of gold, copper, and phosphate in line with the aim of seeing the mining sector to grow tenfold over the next two decades.
Oil Minister Tarek El Molla reportedly told Bloomberg Asharq the zones would extract and process gold in the Eastern Desert, phosphates in the Western Desert, and copper in Sinai.
Molla also indicated that the ministry is working to establish a state-of-the-art certified gold refinery in Mersa Alam, south of the Eastern Desert. The move, he added, aims to maximizing the added value from gold resources and up economic returns from gold production within the mine-to-market value chain.
The future gold refinery boasts more than 1 million ounces of gold. The deposit could be worth up to $1 billion if estimates are proven correct. The area, additionally, has an average gold concentration of 1.5 grams per ton of rock.
Egypt, according to Molla, aims for the mining sector to grow tenfold over the next two decades, which would ultimately see it contribute 5% to annual gross domestic product (GDP).
Egypt to build industrial mining cities to spur growth of mining sector
