Sukari gold mine’s reserves rise to 8M ounces

CAIRO – 11 January 2018: Sukari gold mine operator Centamin said Thursday that the mine’s gold reserves rose to eight million ounces, after production increased by one million ounces in the period between June 2015 to June 2017.

The company said that total production of the mine stood at 544,658 ounces of gold in 2017, expecting production to increase by six percent to reach 580,000 ounces during 2018.

Sukari mine, the country's sole gold-exporting mine, produced around 100 tons of gold since it started operations in January 2010, with average monthly production spanning between 1.2-1.5 tons of gold, Chairman of mineral exploration and mining company Centamin Egypt Youssef el-Raghy said this month.

He said that Centamin targets producing between 550,000-560,000 ounces of gold in 2018, up from 540,000 in 2017. Exports from the mine represent two percent of Egyptian exports, according to Centamin’s data.

Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said in late December that the Sukari gold mine has contributed a total of $250 million in revenues to the government since it started production in 2009.

The government has said that it aims to increase the mining sector's contribution to the GDP to more than five percent. It currently contributes around 0.5 percent of the GDP.

Molla said that the government is working to identify the challenges facing the sector and that his ministry aims to boost investments by amending the sector's administrative and legislative system.

Located in the south-easternmost region of the Eastern Desert, Sukari mine is the first large-scale modern gold mine in Egypt, with a base case production rate of about 500,000 ounces per annum, according to the official website of Centamin.