Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources H.E. Tarek El-Molla has announced plans to grow the contribution of the mining sector to GDP tenfold by 2026, with a view to diversifying the national economy and unlocking vast mineral resource wealth.
Egypt’s mining sector is home to substantial volumes of raw materials, metals, precious metals and nonmetals, including 48 million tons of tantalite, 50 million tons of coal and 6.7 million ounces of gold, concentrated primarily in the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula.
The push to expand the sector is accompanied by new regulation introduced by the government in 2020 that serves to establish new rent, royalty and tax systems, facilitate licensing procedures, develop financial and investment models for contracting with investors, and offer more investor-friendly terms for mining activities and practices.
This March, the country will also play host to a virtual global mining show uniting investors, international mining companies, service providers and local governments to establish strategic partnerships and facilitate the entry of new players to the market. To date, Egypt’s mining industry has been dominated by a few select players, including the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, National Service Projects Organization, Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority, Al Wadi Al Gadid, Shalateen Mining Company, Hammash Misr for Gold Mines, Phosphate Misr Company and Egyptian Black Sand Company.
