More Egyptian Press re:New Tenders5 Mar 2019 19:18
March 5, 2019
Nabil Al-Nagi, owner of Veritas Investments Limited, one of the winning companies, spoke to Daily News Egypt about his company's situation in the tender and evaluated the economic reform plan adopted in Egypt.
In mid-July 2017, Veritas Egypt signed the first agreement to obtain exploration license, then this license was issued after a few amendments at the end of October 2017. Another version of the license was issued in mid-December 2017. But, until now, all the winning companies, including my company, have not been handed over their sites.
So, how do you see the delay in the concessions handover?
Well, I have no answer for this question as the government has not provided any explanation for this delay until now.
However, the owners knew from media that the government outsourced the Baker Mckenzie Company in 2018 to put an entire new system to benefit Egypt the most of its mineral wealth, including gold mining. The new plan will include new methods of exploring gold ore and attracting more investments in this industry. I think this is the reason why the owners have not received their concessions yet.
How do you evaluate the tender system in Egypt?
Actually, the terms of gold ore exploring that had been set in the last tender were drafted in a similar frame of oil and natural gas exploring tenders, which are not relevant to the gold mining as a high-risk industry and a long-term investment. There are key differences between the two kinds of exploration.
The new tender terms should exclude the concept of production sharing that allows the Egyptian government to obtain a share of the concession's production and replace it by collecting royalty fees. This will be beneficial for both parties, investors and government. It's the common technique followed in other countries' gold mining industry.
This concept, if the government adopted it, would attract significant investments in this important industry.
Egypt's gold ore reserves are promising. Undoubtedly, this significant mineral wealth, especially gold ore, need to be extracted, which means that Egypt must make use of this opportunity to establish a real industry and attract many companies to explore and extract its mineral wealth, especially large companies with long experience.
All the tender winners will develop their assets and strengthen their investments to make their concessions as productive as Al Sukari gold mine.
https://menafn.com/1098208537/Time-to-benefit-from-countrys-competencies-to-establish-real-gold-mining-industry-in-Egypt-AlNagi
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