Altus to kick off gold exploration in Egypt

The move is part of the country’s push to attract foreign capital into the sector, which included new regulations and a first round of international licensing bids, kicked off last year.

Altus’ decision to expand into the north east African nation follows a strategic investment by Egyptian-owned  private gold investment firm La Mancha, which bought 35% of the company in February 2020.

“It also reflects our belief in the substantial investment opportunity present in the country and is in line with our strategy to continue to grow our diversified portfolio of projects and royalties,” chief executive Steven Poulton said in the media statement.

The company is currently working with the mineral resource authority on definitive exploration license agreements, which will trigger the first phase of gold exploration in the Eastern Desert.

Open for business

Egypt’s previous system of royalties and profit-sharing agreements made it difficult and unprofitable for miners to explore for and exploit minerals. 

The fresh rules eliminated the need for miners to form joint ventures with the government and limited state royalties to a maximum of 20%.­

Unlike Egypt’s natural gas sector, the country’s mineral wealth remains largely under-explored and undeveloped.  It has only one commercial gold mine, Centamin’s (LON:CEY) (TSX:CEE) Sukari, which contributes up to $900 million a year to the nation’s gross domestic product.

Egypt, which links northeast Africa with the Middle East, has targeted $1 billion in new investments in the mining and energy sectors by 2030.