The interim government approved on Thursday gold miner Centamin's request to expand their activities, a statement from the cabinet said. This follows ongoing difficulties by the firm in executing expansion plans, which had been restricted by a court ruling, Centamin, which is currently extracting gold from mines located southwest of Marsa Alam City in the Red Sea governorate, is planning to expand its activities through increasing its production capacity and the necessary energy levels for operation, which is independently generated through the company's power generators, the government stated. In 2012, a court ruling had been issued challenging Centamin's right to operate the Sukari mine; the court stated that the company is utilising "large areas of drilling operations" without providing details regarding its operational capacity. Centamin also experienced a suspension in production in 2012 due to disputes with the Egyptian government over diesel fuel supplies and its gold exports. In October 2013, the company said that both cases are ongoing but "operations continue as normal and any enforcement of the Administrative Court's decision has been suspended pending the appeal ruling". The UK-governed company announced in February that they are preparing a plant expansion project which is expected to produce 450-500,000 gold ounces per annum starting from 2015 to meet the firm's long-term production target; however, it added, the company is awaiting government approval. Centamin also announced in February that the Sukari goldmine is expected to produce 420,000 gold ounces in 2014, representing an 18% year on year increase from 356,943 ounces. The company's cash operating cost reached $700 per ounce in 2013, up from $669 per ounce in 2012. State-run news agency MENA reported that 185 kilograms of gold from the Sukari mine will be sent to United Arab Emirates on Wednesday. The Sukari mine is considered the first large-scale modern gold mine in Egypt and is located in the south-eastern region of the Eastern Desert. It is jointly owned by Centamin and the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority on a 50:50 basis.
