The Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority (EMRA) has awarded the licences, as part of a competitive international bidding process

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The licences have been awarded to Akh Gold. (Credit: Steve Bidmead from Pixabay)

UK-based mining royalty company Altus Strategies has won four gold exploration licences, comprising nine blocks located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.

The Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority (EMRA) has awarded the licences, spanning a total area of 1,565km2, to the company’s fully owned subsidiary Akh Gold.

Altus said that licences have been awarded as part of a competitive international bidding process, and is currently planning the first phase exploration programmes.

The four licences, located in eastern Egypt, between 30km and 100km of the Red Sea coast, have been awarded for an initial two-year term, with option to extend up to two further periods, each of two years duration.

The Wadi Jundi project consists of four licence blocks, covering a total area of 696 km2. The project is located around 40km south of the historic El Sid gold mine, and 115km north-west of the Sukari gold mine.

The Bakriyah project, comprising two licence blocks, covers a total area of 348km2, and is located around 60km south of the historic El Sid gold mine, and 115km north-west of the Sukari gold mine.

The Abu Diwan project includes two licence blocks, and covers a total of 346km2 area. The project is located around 30km north-east of the historic El Sid gold mine, and 160km north-west of the Sukari gold mine.

Comprising one licence block, the Wadi Dubur project covers a total area of 175km2, and is located 5km west of the historic Atud gold mine and around 40 km north-west of the Sukari gold mine.

In August last year, Altus secured the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval for its Agdz silver and copper project in Morocco.

The 59.7km2 Agdz project is located in a highly prospective region for the discovery of copper and silver deposits.

It comprises four contiguous licence blocks in the Souss-Massa-Drâa region of the Anti-Atlas mountains of central Morocco.