Presenting at Investing in African Mining Indaba, El-Raghy said perception of its issues in Egypt were very different to the reality.

“The perception that Egypt banned all gold exports was incorrect,” he said, adding that Centamin was exporting gold the day after that headline hit.

He said the company lost $US300-$400 million in market cap the day after news agencies carried this report.

The London-listed company’s shares plunged from over 100 pence in October to just 27p in December.

Gold exports were temporarily halted due to a request of approval from the finance minister by customs officials, but last month Centamin said gold exports had continued through January.

El-Raghy also denied reports that 1300 workers had embarked on a hunger strike.

But the most damaging headline for El-Raghy was “Sukari concession agreement annulled”, run by many publications at the end of October.

At the time, MiningNews.net acknowledged those reports, but also said that Centamin was yet to see a written decision from the Egyptian court.

The following week, the company said the official written judgement rejected the request to terminate or annul Centamin’s concession agreement over Sukari, but El-Raghy said the damage had been done.

“The fallout from that led to a suspension in our shares,” he said.

He labelled the media as “irresponsible, immature and irrational”, saying its poor practice had influenced the investment community and prompted a slew of downgrades.

El-Raghy said the political risk at Sukari was perceived and the reality was quite different.

“It’s the most pressing issue when looking from the outside in at this company,” he said.

Despite the issues, El-Raghy said the company had achieved what it said it would.

Centamin said gold production for the December quarter from the Sukari mine in Egypt was a record 85,543oz gold, 45% higher than the same quarter in 2011 and 40% up on the September 2012 quarter.

Full-year production reached 262,958oz, a 30% increase on 2011 and above guidance of 250,000oz.