Miner Centamin Egypt said its operations were unaffected by the political unrest as momentum continues to build in Egypt, while it forecasts higher production in 2011.

Egypt-focused stocks have come under the spotlight as protestors demand an end to the 30-year-rule of President Hosni Mubarak, inspired in part by a revolt in Tunisia which toppled its president.

Crowds gathered in central Cairo on Tuesday for a protest they hoped would swell to a million people.

Centamin said that the day-to-day operations and the safety of its employees at its flagship project, the Sukari Gold Mine based in the Eastern Deserts of Egypt, were unaffected by the protests.

The company looks forward however to a speedy resolution to the current uncertainty and remains confident that such resolution will not negatively impact on the company's investment, Centamin said in a statement on Tuesday.

Shares in the miner rose 4.25 percent at 08:40GMT.

Centamin said production averaged 20,000 ounces per month in November and December, and it forecasts production in 2011 of 250,000-290,000 ounces, with average cash costs of $450 per ounce.

It reported record quarterly gold production of 53,189 ounces, implying annual output of just over 150,000 ounces.

The FTSE-250 .FTMC company had indicated production of 160,000-170,000 ounces of gold for 2010 after guiding its forecast lower in September. [ID:nLAG006389] Centamin's Sukari project was the largest gold resource outside of the major gold companies to come into production in 2009, making Sukari the first modern mine in Egypt.

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