Miners seek gold under the desert sands after Egypt changes rules

The 127 carat, top white gem diamond, is one of the of 129 precious stones of over 100 carats the company has recovered at the mine since it began operations in 2012.

The company's gold output in 2018 will be lower than forecast as almost half of the employees stopped working since mid-November in a wage strike.

Barrick’s Acacia Mining has been hit with a 300-million Tanzanian shillings fine (about $129,144) over allegations of environmental breaches at its North Mara mine.

Tanzanian President Magufuli said the central bank should start buying the country's gold to curb smuggling and build reserves to stabilise the currency.

The Canadian junior expects to mine 230,000 to 265,000 gold ounces this year from both Aurizona mine in Brazil and its recently acquired Mesquite gold operation in California.

The company produced 472,418 ounces of gold at its Egypt-based Sukari mine last year, compared to 544,658 ounces in 2017, due to disruptions and lower grades at the operation.

Concentrate shipments from Indonesia's Grasberg mine, will drop because of a lag in output while operations shift from open pit to underground mining.

A prolonged spat between the government and gold producer Acacia over a $190 billion tax bill has severely limited the company's operations in the East African nation.

Lucara aims to recover between 300,000 and 330,000 carats from Karowe this year.