Egypt's first gold mining tender since 2009 set for early December Cairo, Reuters - Egypt will hold its first international tender for gold mining concessions since 2009 in early December, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said at an economic conference on Monday. Geologists say that Egypt has mineral-rich territory that could be ripe for mining, but investors have said that commercial terms offered in previous tenders were unattractive and have kept the sector underdeveloped. Last year the government said it wanted mining to increase its contribution to GDP to more than 5 percent from the less than 1 percent currently. Molla said that Centamin's Sukari mine, Egypt's sole gold-exporting mine, had paid the government $40 million in profits and $80 million in concession fees since last July.