Billionaire Naguib Sawiris expects new gold finds in Egypt to reach at least 1 million ounces

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris expects gold discoveries in new exploration areas held by his company, Antometals, to reach at least 1 million ounces, as he pushes deeper into mining in his home country.

Antometals has also bid for five more areas under the Egyptian government's latest open-block tender, Sawiris told Asharq Bloomberg in an interview.

The company already holds four exploration areas in Egypt and has started work on two of them. Sawiris said the gold grade in those areas is low, but their large size could still make mining economically viable.

The 1 million-ounce figure is Sawiris' own expectation. It is not an announcement of proven reserves or of production. Whether any of the areas becomes a mine will depend on exploration results, further assessment and feasibility studies.

Sawiris described Egypt's Eastern Desert as a promising region, with opportunities that could rival major mines. The company's bid for five additional areas comes as the Ministry of Petroleum expands the exploration opportunities it offers through the open-block system.

Egypt has spent the past several years trying to turn the Eastern Desert into a serious mining destination. The country produces most of its gold at Sukari, a single large mine, and much of the rest of the region remains lightly explored. In 2020, the government introduced new rules that limited levies and dropped the requirement that mining companies form joint ventures with the state, opening the sector to more private investors.

Sawiris was among the first of Egypt's major businessmen to take advantage of the changes. In February 2021, AKH Gold, a subsidiary of Altus Strategies that he backed, signed four contracts worth $4.1 million to explore nine blocks in the Eastern Desert. At the time, the ministry quoted Sawiris as saying the new regulations had given investors a strong push to take part in the bid round.

The new exploration push fits a bet Sawiris has been making for years. He said gold now makes up about half of his personal portfolio, and the value of his holdings has climbed with the global price of the metal. He also said the ongoing war was putting pressure on gold prices.

Most of that exposure sits in La Mancha, the investment vehicle he has used since 2012 to build stakes in publicly listed gold producers. By September 2025, his stake in Endeavour Mining had grown in value from $500 million to $1.32 billion, and his position in Evolution Mining had risen from $150 million to $375 million. In April, Sawiris said he had added another $400 million to his gold mining holdings, bringing his total commitment to about $1.9 billion.

At the same time, he has been cutting his exposure to Egyptian real estate while expanding his property holdings in the United Arab Emirates. He has described gold and UAE real estate as core long-term positions.

Egypt is only part of his mining footprint in Africa. Sawiris said his company holds numerous gold sites in Sudan, but work there has stopped because of the war. The company is also looking at opportunities in Guinea, though he said its focus for now remains on Egypt.

Sawiris, the eldest son of Onsi Sawiris, the founder of Egypt's best-known business dynasty, built his fortune in telecommunications before turning much of his attention to gold. His expectation for Antometals will now be tested in the field, as drilling in the two active areas shows whether the Eastern Desert holds as much gold as he believes.