Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered top advisors to inspect Marsa Alam area in the Eastern Desert after several reports on illegal gold exploration.
Security forces frequently arrest Egyptians and illegal immigrants in the desert area searching for gold. The forces also destroyed 36 pickup cars and seized equipment used in the process.
Sources with the mining sector on the Red Sea governorate told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Sisi tasked his assistant for national and strategic projects, Ibrahim Mehleb, and his advisor for security and countering terrorism to visit the area on Monday, along with the head of the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) Omar Teama.
The sources estimated the amount of gold excavated illegally every year at between 1 and 2.5 tones.
The Egyptian government launched its first international tender for gold mining concessions in eight years last month. The new exploration round offers five concession areas in the eastern desert and Sinai.
Though it has a history of gold-mining stretching back to the pharaohs, Egypt today has a single commercial gold mine, Centamin's Sukari, which produced 551,036 ounces last year.
In Egypt's mineral-rich Eastern Desert alone, some exploration companies estimate potential gold reserves could be higher than 300 tonnes, although the government declines to give an estimate.
