Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, witnessed the signing of four gold mining contracts, the ministry said in a press release.

The contracts were inked with companies that won the excavation and exploration rights of the 15 gold concessions offered in the Western Desert under tender no.1 for 2020.

Upon signing the four contracts, the tender’s signed contracts reached 20, signed by 10 companies, with investments worth $47 million.

They were inked by the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) with both Australia’s Centamin and Canadian B2Gold.

The over $17 million agreements’ license drafts were signed by Martin Horgan, Centamin’s CEO, and B2Gold’s Senior Vice President of Exploration, through video conference. From the Egyptian side, the contracts were signed by Khaled El Sheshtawy, Chairman of the Board of Directors at EMRA.

At the ministry’s headquarter, the contract was signed by Mohamed Zaher, Head of Zaher Group, the local partner of B2Gold in Egypt.