Alsukari is a Gold Mine located in the Nubian Desert

Nubian Desert

The Nubian Desert is in the eastern region of the Sahara Desert, spanning approximately 400,000 km² of northeastern Sudan between the Nile and the Red Sea. The arid region, a largely sandstone plateau, has lots of wadis flowing towards the Nile. There is virtually no rainfall in the Nubian,...

/Eastern Desert

Eastern Desert

The Eastern Desert is the section of Sahara Desert east of the Nile River, between the river and the Red Sea. It extends from Egypt in the north to Eritrea in the south, and also comprises parts of Sudan and Ethiopia.-Features:...

 near the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

 in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, 30 km south of Marsa Alam

Marsa Alam

Marsa Alam is a town in south-eastern Egypt, located on the western shore of the Red Sea. It is currently seeing fast increasing popularity as a tourist destination and development following the opening of Marsa Alam International Airport in 2001....

. It is exploited jointly by the Egyptian Ministry of Mineral Resources

Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is the Egyptian authority that supervises exploration, production, marketing and distribution of oil, gas and other natural resources. The current Minister is Mohamed Ghorab....

 and Centamin Egypt

Centamin Egypt

Centamin Egypt Limited is a gold mining business. It is based in Mount Pleasant in Western Australia. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...

. 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.

Gold mine

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

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 and the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The site is supplied by a 30 km long pipeline

Pipeline transport

Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....

 bringing water from the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

. Most production is currently focused on a large opencast, but rich veins will be mined using underground Stoping (mining method)

Stoping (mining method)

Stoping is the removal of the wanted ore from an underground mine leaving behind an open space known as a stope. Stoping is used when the country rock is sufficiently strong not to cave into the stope, although in most cases artificial support is also provided...

.

Company

The company exploiting the gold is Centamin(Egypt Ltd and has its headquarters in Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange

London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

.