Centamin, the concessionary company of Sukari gold mine, invests approximately $25m per year in searching and excavating for gold outside Egypt. All work areas are in the initial stages though, and production has not started yet. Andy Davidson, Head of Business Development and Investor Relations at Centamin, said that they took over Ampella Mining Limited Company, which is concessionary to a 2,200 sqm project to search for gold in Burkina Faso. He added that Centamin spends between $12m and $15m per year to carry out search and exploration of the concession area in Burkina Faso. Davidson explained that gold production in the concession area in Burkina Faso will start in a period of three to five years, depending on the conclusion of the search and exploration phase. He asserted that Centamin is interested in working in mining in Egypt, and hopes to get a new concession area with direct order to search and mine for gold in order to repeat the successful experience of the Sukari gold mine. In the feasibility study they presented to the government at the beginning of the Sukari project, Centamin presented a plan for nine mines. Centamin conducted studies on them before choosing the Sukari mountain area. Davidson asserted that Centamin has the financial capacity to execute a new project exploring and searching for gold in Egypt and achieve maximum returns for the benefit of the state.
