Miner Centamin won't bid in Egypt gold tender, terms not viable

Centamin Plc, which runs Egypt's only commercial gold mine, said it would not bid in the country's new gold exploration tender because the terms are not commercially viable.
Egypt, which is hoping that gold production can be a future source of growth for its struggling economy, began accepting bids last week for five concessions in its first tender for new gold exploration since 2009. The deadline for bids is 20 April.

Centamin, which last year produced 551,036 ounces from its Egyptian Sukari mine, said the terms were less attractive than previous rounds.

"Whilst Egypt contains many areas that are highly prospective for gold, Centamin will not bid for further ground under the latest terms proposed by EMRA (Egypt's mining agency) in the 2017 bid round," Centamin chairman Josef El-Raghy told Reuters.