Gold and copper exploration company Kefi announced an update on its Tulu Kapi Gold Mine Share Company joint-venture project in Ethiopia, reporting advancement on its multi-party project financing activities and early development works.
Kefi confirmed it had maintained the full funding syndicate for the project, and said it intended to sign the funding “Umbrella Agreement” in June 2022 to demonstrate the full funding agreement.
The mining group reported that it would evidence the full funding capacity of each syndicate member to the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines in order to keep its progress on track.
Kefi added that it would clearly set out any outstanding conditions for execution of the underlying definitive agreements between the respective individual counterparties to the Umbrella Agreement.
The company said it planned to trigger full project construction in the Ethiopian dry season from October 2022.
Kefi has undertaken a slate of activities in the last month, including the receipt of a final pricing proposal from the mining contractor which is currently under review, commissioning additional refinements of the process plant construction contract and pricing, and collaborating with the local authorities to implement the first stage of resettlement and compensation under the set protocols according to World Bank IFC Performance Standards.
The mining firm also executed a series of community and local-authority engagement meetings and presented at the Mine Africa Forum in Toronto to promote Ethiopia prospects for mining development.
“We continue to accelerate activities in preparation for signing the financing syndicate Umbrella Agreement this month, then signing individual definitive agreements over the following few months, enabling full Tulu Kapi construction to commence from the end of the wet season in October 2022,” said Kefi executive chairman Harry Anagnostaras-Adams.
“Kefi has significant momentum as we progress our three advanced projects in two countries that are now overtly pro-development.”
“These three projects provide the opportunity for the Company to establish itself as a production leader in the Arabian Nubian Shield, having already established itself as an exploration leader with a now-established Mineral Resources of c.4.7 million ounces gold-equivalent in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia.”
