Egypt joins Geneva negotiations on Global Plastics Treaty, calls for urgent agreement    Egypt delivers over 30 million health services through public hospitals in H1 2025    Madinet Masr in talks for three land plots in Riyadh as part of Saudi expansion    Egypt's PM tells Palestinian PM that Rafah crossing is working 24/7 for aid    Egypt, Japan discuss economic ties, preparations for TICAD conference    Real Estate Developers urge flexible land pricing, streamlined licensing, and dollar-based transactions    Egypt's Sisi pledges full state support for telecoms, tech investment    EGP inches down vs. USD at Sunday's trading close    EGX launches 1st phone app    Escalation in Gaza, West Bank as Israeli strikes continue amid mounting international criticism    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt, UNDP discuss outcomes of joint projects, future environmental cooperation    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    After Putin summit, Trump says peace deal is best way to end Ukraine war    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Jordan condemns Israeli PM remarks on 'Greater Israel'    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt's govt. issues licensing controls for used cooking oil activities    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Egypt's Sisi: Egypt is gateway for aid to Gaza, not displacement    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Centamin hopes to resolve the Sukari mine's case during 2013
Published in Arab News Agency on 10 - 11 - 2012

Centamin said it hoped to resolve a court case hanging over its Sukari gold mine in Egypt during 2013, offering hope to shareholders worried about the future of the gold miner's only producing operation.
An Egyptian administrative court ruled at the end of October that Centamin's right to operate Sukari was invalid, slicing one third off the company's share price in a day.
Centamin said earlier this week it was confident of winning an appeal against the decision, which lawyers said might take years to unravel.
The company said its appeal, which it will lodge next week, will be based on the submission of an exploitation lease which has yet to be seen by the court.
"Whether that's (the appeal) fast-tracked or not we'll know more over the course of the next week, and that will determine whether it's a month or three-month process," Centamin chairman Josef El-Raghy told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
He said it was difficult to give a definitive time frame for settling the case, but when asked if it would be resolved during 2013, Raghy said: "I would hope so."
The case against Centamin was brought by Egyptian lawyer Hamdy Fakharany, who argued that the state was not receiving sufficient returns and should stop operations at Sukari.
Fakharany, an ex-MP and a leader of the liberal Democratic Front Party, has instigated other cases challenging the sale of state land to real estate companies during the rule of Hosni Mubarak, ousted in a popular uprising last year.
"There is zero benefit from closing this project," Raghy said.
The cases have added to investor nerves at a time when the government is trying to revive confidence in the economy and lure back foreign investment, which has all but evaporated.
Shares in Centamin, among a small pool of foreign firms still pumping cash into the Egyptianeconomy, have recovered some of their losses to trade at around 73 pence, up 15 per cent from where they closed on the day of the court ruling.
Raghy said he expected Sukari to continue operating normally during ongoing legal procedures and that the mine was on track to meet output guidance of 250,000 ounces of gold for 2012.
Centamin says its concession agreement was not annulled.
Centamin, which employs 1,200 staff at Sukari, has yet to directly contribute to Egyptian coffers via its profit-sharing agreement.
But next year the state will net between $40 million to $50 million after the company has recovered more of its costs.
Egypt's return from the mine is due to rise to between $150 million to $200 million per year from 2015.
Centamin said terms offered in its 1994 agreement with Egypt made exploring and developing a gold mine attractive, but said terms offered in 2006 and 2009 bid rounds were not sufficient.
"We did not participate in those bid rounds because the terms were too onerous for investment," Raghy said.
Centamin's Sukari revived Egypt's bullion mining history dating back to ancient times. Centamin describes Egypt's eastern desert as having great potential for more mines, but which is under-explored and under-developed.
Most of the companies that picked up licences in the 2006 and 2009 bid rounds have since relinquished them, said El-Raghy.
"The gold is there. What isn't there is the investment climate," Centamin's head of business development Andy Davidson said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.