CAIRO: Egypt s Petroleum Ministry said on Monday it had launched a bid round for gold exploration in seven blocks in its Eastern Desert, an area where ancient Egyptians mined for gold in Pharaonic times. The Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority said in a statement on the ministry s website that interested exploration firms should submit their bids before 1000 GMT on October 7. Egypt said last year it wanted to produce 8 tons of gold from its mines in 2009. Gold production had stalled since the late 1950s when the volume mined was considered too small to be profitable. The blocks on offer range in size between 790 and 1,597 square km, the statement said. Egypt s gold sector was given a boost in 2007 when a memorandum of understanding was signed with the International Finance Corp (IFC), the private sector lender of the World Bank, to replace antiquated mining laws. Egypt s old regulations, based on profit-sharing, made it virtually impossible for foreign mining players to exploit the reserves, while local companies lacked the capital or expertise to develop a commercial, home-grown industry. Since then, firms from Canada, Australia, Europe and the United Arab Emirates have won bids to explore for gold. Egypt has said it would produce its first block of gold bullion from the Eastern Desert s Sukari mine in June. Gold explorer Centamin Egypt has said the reserve estimate for that mine stood at 6.4 million ounces.
