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Naguib Sawiris' gold exploration company, In2Metals, has bid for five new exploration blocks in Egypt's Eastern Desert, expanding a push into Egyptian gold mining that has started to produce results.
Sawiris announced the bids to journalists on the sidelines of the Egypt Mining Forum in the New Administrative Capital, EnterpriseAM reported. The bids, made through In2Metals' Egyptian subsidiary, AKH Gold, would add to the four concessions the company already holds. They were made under the government's third open-sector round, a rolling system that replaced fixed tenders in June.
About 1 million ounces at Wa'al
The company's most advanced project is Wa'al, in the Central Eastern Desert, near the Sukari mine, Egypt's main producing gold mine. Sawiris said Wa'al has shown promising results across a wide area.
Drilling there has defined an inferred resource of about 1 million ounces of gold, AKH Gold's country manager, Vincent Morel, told EnterpriseAM. An inferred resource is the lowest level of confidence in mining estimates. It means the gold is likely to be there based on geology and drilling, but the company has not yet shown that it can be mined at a profit.
Sawiris said the grade at Wa'al is low but the deposit's size could still make commercial development possible. He also said he expects the price of gold to rise above $5,000 an ounce this year, which would improve the economics of exploration projects like his.
A key study due this month
The project's next step is due by the end of October, when global mining consultancy SRK Consulting is set to deliver a scoping study that will shape how Wa'al is developed, Morel said. The company could fund the project itself, form a partnership with a nearby producer such as AngloGold Ashanti, which operates Sukari, or raise money on capital markets.
AKH Gold has spent about $5 million on drilling and exploration so far this year, after spending $9 million last year on airborne geophysics, soil sampling and drilling. Its board is expected to approve the 2027 budget in October or November.
Illegal miners held up work
Until recently, the company was able to work on only one of its four concessions. Illegal miners blocked access to the other three for 18 to 24 months, Morel said. A military security campaign cleared the areas in July and August, and work on those concessions is expected to resume in November.
Sawiris' growing bet on gold
The new bids deepen a bet on gold that has become one of the largest parts of Sawiris' fortune. He has said gold now makes up about half of his personal portfolio. Through his investment vehicle, La Mancha, he holds large stakes in listed producers including Endeavour Mining and Evolution Mining, and in April he said he had raised his total commitment to gold mining to about $1.9 billion.
Egypt is also trying to build up its mining industry. The government wants mining exports to reach $10 billion a year by 2040, up from $1.6 billion in 2021, and wants the sector to contribute 5% to 6% of gross domestic product by 2030, up from less than 1% today.
Sawiris made his name in telecommunications before turning much of his attention to gold. The SRK study later this month will show whether his flagship Egyptian project can move from exploration toward becoming a mine.
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