Gold and silver shine at Mena Mining Congress 2011

Opec Governor for the UAE Ali Al Yabhouni this morning opened the Mena Mining Congress 2011 in Dubai with a lot of interest focused on the growing amount of gold and silver exploration and production in the region, regardless of the problems posed in some countries by the Arab Spring.

From the Egyptian Government came assurances that the situation was now ‘very, very safe for business’ and that ‘past signatures still stand on all contracts’.

Pharaoh’s gold

Gold production at Centamin Egypt (pictured) is back to planned levels with 50,539 ounces mined in Q3. Officials said the old pharaohic mines contained seven million ounced of gold with 25 million in the surrounding area.

Moroccan Mining Minister Dr Armina Benkhadra’s address was delivered on her behalf and rated the top four mining resources of Morocco as phosphates, copper, gold and silver, For silver Morocco is the No1 producer in Africa.

Eurostone, a privately held concern that is a key sponsor of the congress this year, said it was diversifying out of iron ore by exploring for gold in five countries and was targeting a resource of 25 million ounces within three years. Drilling services group Boart Longyear noted that its biggest recent increase in business was gold exploration in Africa.

From Saudi Arabia Ma’aden CEO Dr Hady Dabbagh gave an excellent presentation on his diversified group which aims to be the third pillar of the Saudi economy behind oil and petrochemicals. Besides a $10.8 billion integrated aluminium project and $5.6 billion phosphate mine, Ma’aden has five gold mines producing 150,000 ounces per annum with 11 million ounces of resource.

Two new gold mines are under construction in Saudi Arabia including a 500-kilometre water pipeline accounting for 25 per cent of the project’s cost. However, with average recovery costs of $400 per ounce from the Arabian Shield that hardly matters.

Arabian Shield

The Arabian Shield is a geological formation rich in gold and silver as well as gold, copper, iron ore, zinc, uranium and rare earths. It is comparable to geology found in Canada and extends under the Red Sea into Egypt where the Centamin mine is located that once served the pharoahs.

Only 10 per cent of the Arabian Shield has been licensed for electromagnetic surveys in Saudi Arabia so Dr Dabbagh expressed optimism that a great deal was left to be found under the desert sands.

With precious metal prices hitting record highs this year perhaps a focus on these metals was to be expected at the Mena Mining Congress, even many of the exhibition hall stalls were for gold and silver exploration companies.