CAIRO — Egypt's gold and jewelry exports have risen sharply in 2020, generating huge revenue for the country as it prepares to build its first jewelry-making city. The boom in gold production came after amendments to mining regulations two years ago, paving the way for more investments in this precious metal.

Gold, jewelry and gemstones exports increased during the first nine months of 2020, achieving a revenue of $2.444 billion, compared to $ 1.392 billion during the same period in 2019, a growth rate of 76%, according to the latest data released by Egypt’s Export Council for Building Materials, Refractory and Metallurgy Industries.

The London-based organization for gold industry, the World Gold Council, showed in its annual data that gold reserves in Egypt increased to 79.87 tons in the third quarter of 2020. 

This increase in the extraction and export of gold was an expected result of the reforms introduced to the Mineral Resources Law No. 198 in 2018. The amended law has reduced the fees imposed on gold investors, attracting many international and local companies to mine for gold.