Altus Strategies subsidiary Akh Gold expects to land an unspecified number of gold exploration licenses in the Eastern Desert from the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority, according to a company statement. The UK-based mining firm was one of 11 companies to land exploration rights to 82 concession blocks in the Eastern Desert in a tender launched last March.

Mineral Resources Act, La Mancha’s investments bolstered Altus’ position on Egypt: “Our decision to expand our activities into Egypt follows the strategic investment by Egyptian-owned La Mancha, which acquired a 35% interest in Altus in February 2020, and follows favourable amendments to the Egyptian Mineral Resources Act,” said Altus Chief Executive Steve Poulton. The amendments offering investors more attractive terms were approved in 2019, and Oil Minister Tarek El Molla had announced that Egypt would issue a new gold exploration tender every four months.

A busy week for mining: The government announced earlier this week that it had signed contracts worth USD 13 bn with Canada’s Lotus Gold, Mining and Manufacturing Company (MEDAF), and Egypt’s Ebdaa for Gold as part of the results of the same tender.

OTHER COMMODITIES NEWS-

An expected dip in Spain and Turkey’s capacity for citrus exports has created a gap Egypt is primed to fill in Far East markets, including India, and more European countries, Gehan El Sheref, a specialist for Egyptian agriculture exporter El Rawan, tells FreshPlaza. Spain and Turkey, two of Egypt’s major competitors in the citrus industry, are grappling with lockdowns, bad weather, and decreased volumes, while demand for the produce hasn’t wavered during the pandemic, El Sheref says. While movement in Western Europe and China was a bit slower, overall demand from markets such as in Russia and Gulf countries increased compared to 2019. Egypt exported around 60k tonnes of citrus last year and the number is expected to increase by 10% for the upcoming season, she added.