The Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority (EMRA) has confirmed that Aim- and TSX-V-listed Altus Strategies’ wholly-owned subsidiary Akh Gold will be awarded a number of gold exploration licences in Egypt.
The licences will be awarded as part of Egypt's inaugural competitive international exploration licence bid round, which started in 2020.
Altus is working with the EMRA in respect of entering into the definitive exploration licence agreements and will provide an update on this process and the licences in due course.
Altus CE Steven Poulton refers to the gold prospectivity of Egypt and that of the Arabian-Nubian shield as “world-renowned”, noting that the award of the licences follows a competitive international bidding process.
The licences were selected following a systematic in-house target generation programme, incorporating satellite and historic exploration data. This work identified numerous priority targets, including areas with apparent significant historic artisanal gold workings.
"Our decision to expand our activities into Egypt follows the strategic investment by Egyptian-owned La Mancha, which acquired a 35% interest in Altus in February 2020, and follows favourable amendments to the Egyptian Mineral Resources Act.
"It also reflects our belief in the substantial investment opportunity present in the country and is in line with our strategy to continue to grow our diversified portfolio of projects and royalties,” Poulton adds.
On receipt of the definitive licence agreements, Altus’ field teams will start the planned first phase gold exploration programmes.