Engineer Karim Badawy, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, received today at the headquarters of the Mineral Resources Authority a delegation of officials from the international companies Anglo-Ashanti and Centamin, after the entry of Anglo-Ashanti with its investments in the Egyptian mining sector as a partner of the Mineral Resources Authority in the Sukari gold mine, following its recent acquisition of Centamin Company, which was Invest in the mine.
The meeting included Mr. Marcelo Pereira da Silva, First Vice President of AngloGold Ashanti for the Latin America region and responsible for managing the transition and new partnership process, Mr. Martin Horgan, CEO of Centamin International, Eng. Amr Hassouna, CEO of Sukari Gold Mines and Centamin Egypt, and a group of AngloGold officials. Ashanti International.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Minister welcomed Anglo Ashanti International Company as a new investor in the Egyptian mining sector, expressing his aspiration for a strategic partnership in the Sukari gold mine, which has a successful operations system, quality mining capabilities and opportunities, the human element, the application of safety practices, environmental sustainability, and gender diversity.
The Minister affirmed the Egyptian government’s commitment to developing the mining sector and creating an attractive environment for investment in this sector and providing great investment opportunities, which is what is currently being worked on through multiple axes, as well as supporting environmental sustainability in its work, pointing to the importance of the mining sector at the current stage due to its potential. This makes it eligible for a greater contribution to the national product, similar to the experiences of many countries, where its contribution does not exceed 1% currently to the Egyptian national product, and there is an opportunity to increase it to between 5-6% in the medium term by intensifying Cooperation, integration, facilitating investment, and supporting mining ore manufacturing industries.
Marcelo Pereira da Silva, First Vice President of AngloGold Ashanti for the Latin America region, confirmed that investing in Egypt is a great opportunity, and we seek a successful long-term partnership in Egypt in the Sukari mine project, as our business portfolio is concerned with long-term projects, indicating that the Sukari mine is a tremendous project. We look forward to discovering more potential in it and further development and growth in Egypt, and we have witnessed the success achieved by Centamin in successful cooperation with the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority, and we are as well. We are keen on environmental sustainability in mining operations as an important priority for us.
Martin Horgan, CEO of Centamin, expressed his pride in his period of work in Egypt through Centamin, which was a witness to Egyptian development in the mining sector, pointing out the promising potential of Egypt, and with ongoing work and investing in the potential, Egypt will be on the cusp of a renaissance in the field of mining.
It is noteworthy that Anglo Ashanti Gold is a global company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and ranks fourth in the world in the classification of gold producing companies.
The meeting was attended by geologist Yasser Ramadan, head of the Mineral Resources Authority from the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, engineer Moataz Atef, undersecretary for the technical office, the minister’s office and the official spokesman, Dr. Muhammad Al-Bagouri, director general of legal affairs at the ministry, and accountant Hisham Ali Hassan, advisor to the minister for oversight of companies.
