CAIRO — Egypt will open its fifth Mining Forum on Monday with the first awards under its new Open Blocks System set to take centre stage, providing an early test of reforms designed to accelerate mineral exploration and attract international capital.
The two-day forum, held Sept. 28-29 at the St. Regis New Capital under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, is expected to draw more than 6,000 participants from over 50 countries, including mining companies, investors, government officials and technology providers.
Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi said the government is seeking to turn Egypt’s geological potential into exploration, production and downstream industries, with mining targeted to contribute about 6% of GDP, compared with less than 1% currently.
The key announcement will come on Tuesday, when Egypt is due to disclose the results of its first mineral exploration offering under the Open Blocks System, covering gold and associated minerals, phosphate, talc and kaolin.
Unlike traditional periodic bidding rounds, the system keeps exploration areas continuously available, allowing companies to assess blocks and submit applications when ready. The government says the model is intended to shorten allocation timelines, improve transparency and accelerate the start of exploration activity.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly will also chair a roundtable with major mining investors to discuss investment opportunities, regulatory coordination and barriers to project development.
The forum comes as Egypt restructures its mining framework, including changes to its regulatory authority and investment models, while seeking greater private-sector participation across exploration, extraction and mineral processing.
For Cairo, the Open Blocks awards mark the transition from regulatory reform to execution. Their success will ultimately be measured not by the number of licences awarded, but by how quickly those licences translate into drilling, discoveries, mine-development capital and commercially producing assets.
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