30th Jun 2016 10:34
LONDON (Alliance News) - KEFI Minerals PLC on Thursday said it plans to finalise regulatory approvals for the contracting and financing of its Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia, and to start installing the production team at the site within the next quarter.
The gold miner said it is seeking shareholder approval for its finance plan for the project at its annual general meeting on Thursday, which it says requires initial capital of around USD130.0 million and will involve a syndicate of financial backers, as well as the issue of 1.04 billion shares.
At a statement to be made at the meeting, Chairman Harry Anagnostaras-Adams said that, in the coming quarter, the company plans "to finalise regulatory and all other approvals of the detailed documentation for project contracting and financing, and to start installing the production operations team. A fortunate side-effect of tough capital markets is the availability of first-class personnel, contractors and specialist advisers."
"Also during the coming quarter, the [Ethiopian] government is scheduled to start implementing the community resettlement programme. The KEFI team stands ready to support and facilitate when the formal trigger is given by the government, scheduled for September 2016," Anagnostaras-Adams said.
While focus has been largely on the Tulu Kapi project, the chairman said, elsewhere the company has been "preparing an aggressive set of targets for the year ahead both in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia".
In Ethiopia, its first exploration priority is satellite deposits within trucking distance of Tulu Kapi "so as to unfold the operational sequence to complement the planned open pit operation".
In Saudi Arabia, the company has been focusing on its near-term development proposition at Jibal Qutman where the mineral resources currently stand at 28.4 metres at 0.80 grams per tonne of gold for 733,045 ounces of gold.
"KEFI Minerals is poised to trigger its transformation from a pure exploration to a production company. The progress on the ground at the Tulu Kapi gold project over the past year in Ethiopia has been excellent. The project economics are better today than at the time of the last annual general meeting," said the chairman.
Shares in KEFI Minerals were up 1.5% at 0.512 pence on Thursday.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Kefi Gold & Copper