Alsukari (Arabic: السكري Al-Sukkari, Egyptian pronunciation: El-Sokkari) is a Gold Mine located in the Nubian Desert/Eastern Desert near the Red Sea in Egypt, 30 km south of Marsa Alam. It is exploited jointly by the Egyptian Ministry of Mineral Resources and Centamin Egypt. It is Egypt's first modern gold mine, an industry considered to have scope for expansion in the country. Egypt was known in the ancient world as being a source of gold, and one of the earliest available maps shows a gold mine at this location.[1]
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The $265-million project began gold production in 2009 at an initial rate of 30 000 oz/y, and that 1 600 holes had been drilled into the 12-million oz deposit. It is intended to bring production up to 200 ooo oz/y in 2010. It is expected to be a 2 g/t mining operation. Another significant underground resource has also been identified and would be pursued, anticipated to yield between 5 g/t and 10 g/t. The processing plant has a workforce of 850, and is almost complete, bringing modern mining to the area which had been mined for gold for around 4,000 years by the Pharaohs, Romans and the British.[2] The site is supplied by a 30 km long pipeline bringing water from the Red Sea. Most production is currently focused on a large opencast, but rich veins will be mined using underground Stoping (mining method).
The company exploiting the gold is Centamin(Egypt Ltd and has its headquarters in Perth, Western Australia. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange.