Centamin mines pharaohs’ gold

FT.com (William MacNamara)

A mine known to the pharaohs has re-entered service as modern Egypt’s only large gold producer.

A papyrus map indicates that the Sukari gold deposit, in Egypt’s eastern desert near the Red Sea, was mined during the time of the pharaohs more than 2,000 years ago. Later, the Romans mined gold there, literally scratching the surface of a deposit that modern surveys show to extend deep into the earth.

Centamin, the Aim-listed miner, opened the mine last week. It will produce 200,000 ounces of gold per year as the mine enters its first phase of full-scale development, Josef El-Raghi, chief executive, said during the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town.