More than 100 companies vie for Egypt’s mining rights

Egypt’s overhaul of its mining sector has attracted bids from 119 companies in its first three months.

Companies from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China and other markets are seeking licences under a new system designed to make mining quicker and easier.

The companies submitted 403 bids covering 118 of the 335 offered sectors, minister of petroleum and mineral resources Karim Badawi said.

He added that the mining areas cover more than 45,000 square kilometres and include promising deposits of gold, phosphate, talc, kaolin, and other ores and minerals.

“The new system offers greater flexibility and speed in awarding areas in accordance with established global practices, reflecting the country’s shift toward an investment model that is more open and responsive to market needs,” Badawi said.

He noted that Egypt aims to expand the mining sector’s contribution to GDP to 6 percent in the next five years, while increasing investment and the number of operating companies.

In May, the petroleum and mineral resources ministry reported that the cabinet endorsed an improved mining investment law, part of a wider strategy to attract more capital and boost the sector’s contribution to the domestic economy.

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Key incentives in the new law include reducing the mining site lease by 60 percent for investors and cutting the required minimum government shareholding in projects from 25 to 10 percent.

“These amendments are part of a strategy aimed at creating an attractive investment environment, achieving optimal use of natural resources, and increasing the contribution of the mining sector to the national economy,” the ministry said.

Egypt, undertaking reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund, is pinning hopes on the “golden triangle” area, home to nearly half the country’s gold deposits.

In July, the General Authority for the Golden Triangle Economic Zone awarded the first project in that area to Elsewedy Industrial Development Company, to develop an industrial and logistics zone spanning nearly 6 million square metres at the Red Sea port of Safaga.

Egypt said in December last year that it was preparing a list of projects to offer investors in the 9,000 sq km golden triangle area, involving $16 billion in financing over three decades.