Natural resources regulator to issue new Eastern Desert gold exploration tenders before the end of 2018? The Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) is reportedly planning to issue new gold exploration tenders for five blocks in the Eastern Desert before the end of the year, an unnamed EMRA official tells Youm7. The authority is reportedly waiting on Parliament to sign off on its agreements with the four firms that were awarded five blocks in the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula last year, who have yet to finalize the contracts. Oil Minister Tarek El Molla had previously said that there were no plans to offer new concessions until the agreements were sealed. Egypt’s largest gold producers had all refused to participate in last year’s bid due to EMRA’s insisting on tendering the blocks under production sharing agreements.