The Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) entered into a contract with the Canadian company Lotus Gold Corporation to explore gold and associated minerals with investments amounting to $2.5 million.

Lotus Gold Corporation was a previous winner of two rounds of a gold exploration tender conducted by EMRA in 2020 and 2021. These tenders granted exploration concessions over a combined area of 1,219 square kilometers in the first round.

The recent agreement with EMRA pertains to the second round, covering an area of 525 square kilometers.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El-Molla, and ambassador of Canada to Egypt, Louis Dumas.

Egypt is actively striving to establish itself as a sustainable mining industry that incorporates modern technologies and advanced laboratories through collaborations with international companies, according to El-Molla.

In recent months, Egypt engaged in discussions with prominent global gold-producing entities, namely Barrick Gold from Canada and Centamin from Australia, to reach a definitive agreement on gold exploration in the Eastern Desert, Local media sources reported.

Earlier this year, The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources stated that they are launching an international bid for gold exploration allowing Egypt the rights to explore for gold in the Eastern Desert through the state-run Shalateen Mineral Resource Company (SMRC).

Within the scope of expanding the utilization of mineral resources, Egypt has set a target to invest a minimum of $1 billion in the mining sector by 2030.