Egypt has a promising mining potential with several mineral ores, including phosphate, limestone, coal, ornamental stones, dolomite, white sands, and quartz. The Egyptian mining territory consists of phanerozoic sediments formed during Cambrian Period and crystalline basement rocks formed since the Precambrian period. Around 89% of the country’s Precambrian Arabian-Nubian Shield area has not been tendered for at least the last 20 years. Accordingly, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR) has adopted a strategic plan to enhance the sector’s contribution to the Egyptian economy.

The Modernization Program

Egypt has succeeded in attracting international investments and various expertise through the launch of a flexible strategy to maximize the use of its mineral resources, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, remarked during his participation in a dialogue session entitled ‘The Mining and Exploration of the Egyptian Nubian Shield’ on the sidelines of the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) event in London, in June 2023.

The strategy of MoPMR for development and modernization was launched in 2018 to increase the contribution of the mining sector to the gross domestic product to 5% and increase foreign direct investment in the mining sector by attracting international mining companies such as American, Canadian and English companies with global and diversified mining expertise.

The Egyptian mining modernization program consists of seven main projects. Some of these projects have been completed. One of the success stories accomplished by the sector, thanks to the modernization program, is launching the international bid round for gold mining in 2020. The bid round was to cover around 56,000 km total area in the Red Sea and Eastern Desert, and it was posted for a number of sectors through two rounds.

Adding Value

The Egyptian mining sector seeks to raise the added value of natural resources and achieve an effective contribution to the development of societies.

Among the projects launched is the largest Egyptian phosphate project, which aims at maximizing the value added of Egyptian phosphate through Phosphoric acid production complex. The project is set to be implemented in 30 months. It is located at Abu Tartour, Alwadi Aljadid, with a capacity of 500,000 metric tons per year of phosphorus pentoxide (MTPY P2O5).

In May 2023, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi issued directives to efficiently use Egypt’s mineral wealth and raw materials. El Sisi highlighted the importance of adopting the most advanced methods of governance and modern management, as well as advanced technologies to maximize the added value of Egypt’s mineral wealth.

Moreover, Egypt has high reserves of Tantalum. This is a precious ore that is used in several sophisticated industries, including aircraft components, laptops and mobile phones, and microelectronic circuits and electronics.  Tantalum is further used in the process of manufacturing a number of medical components including artificial joints and prosthetics.

Egypt is considered a significant gold producer as Egypt’s gold production reached about 14 tons in 2022. Egypt was ranked as the 27th in terms of gold mining production in 2022, according to GlobalData.

In January 2022, El Molla announced that implementation of the first approved gold refinery in Egypt in the Marsa Alam area in the Eastern Desert is underway to maximize the added value of gold resources.

Egypt’s mining sector adopts a strategic plan for the year 2030 to have $0.7 billion in Foreign direct investment (FDI), $5.2 billion exports, $7.8 billion in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and $0.3 billion fiscal revenue. According to the plan, the year 2040 should witness $0.8 billion achieved in FDI, $9.8 billion in exports, $20.2 billion in GDP, and $0.4 billion in fiscal revenues, according to the MoPMR’s report entitled ‘Egypt as an Idealistic Mining Destination June 2023’.

With the ambitious strategic plan, Egypt can use its promising ores to boost the added value of many industries. The country will also be able to achieve distinguished economic results in the years to come.