Sawiris's AKH Gold bids for five more gold blocks in Egypt

AKH Gold, the Egyptian arm of Naguib Sawiris's mining company In2Metals, has bid for five new gold exploration blocks in Egypt's Eastern Desert. Sawiris disclosed the bids on the sidelines of the Egypt Mining Forum in the New Administrative Capital, EnterpriseAM reported on 4 October.

Why it matters: A successful bid would take AKH Gold from four concessions to nine in the belt that hosts Sukari, Egypt's main producing gold mine. For Gulf and Egyptian readers, it is a test of whether Egypt's new licensing system can draw serious local money.

The details

The bids were filed under the government's third open-sector round. That is a rolling system that replaced fixed bidding rounds in June, letting companies apply for blocks at any time rather than waiting for a tender window. The locations of the five blocks have not been made public.

AKH Gold's most advanced project is Wa'al, in the Central Eastern Desert close to Sukari, which AngloGold Ashanti operates.

Country manager Vincent Morel said drilling at Wa'al has defined an inferred resource of about 1 million ounces. Inferred is the lowest-confidence category in resource reporting: it signals geological potential, not gold that can be mined at a profit. No tonnage or grade has been published.

Sawiris has said the grade at Wa'al is low but that the size of the deposit could still make it commercially viable.

A scoping study from SRK Consulting is due by the end of October. Morel said it will shape the development path, with options that include self-funding, a partnership with a nearby producer or raising money on markets.