Egypt’s Mineral Resources Authority and British company Nubian Mines signed a contract worth $5.2m, on Wednesday, to explore for gold in the Eastern Desert.

The signing was witnessed by Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla, according to a statement by the ministry.

El Molla said that the contract’s signing comes as one of several other contracts that have been signed with companies who won the first round of the global bid for gold exploration in Egypt in 2020.

Contracts worth a total of $60m have been signed with 11 international and Egyptian companies that won 82 search areas, covering an area of ​​14,000 sqkm in the Eastern Desert.

Last November, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced the 11 winning companies after it offered the bid in March of last year.

The ministry said that the companies include seven international companies and four Egyptian companies, the most prominent of which are: Centamin; Medaf; Park Gold; Al-Abadi; Red Sea Resources; Nubian Mines; North Africa; BT Gold; Lotus Jul; and AKH Gold.