REG - Kefi Gold and Copper - Regulatory Progress in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia

KEFI Gold and CopperAnnouncement

16/08/2022 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220816:nRSP0960Wa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 0960W  Kefi Gold and Copper PLC  16 August 2022

16 August 2022

KEFI Gold and Copper plc

("KEFI" or the "Company")

Regulatory Progress in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia

Investor Webinar midday London Wednesday 24 August 2022

KEFI (AIM: KEFI), the gold exploration and development company with projects
in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, is pleased to provide an operational update on the activities of KEFI
Minerals (Ethiopia) Ltd ("KME") and Tulu Kapi Gold Mines Share Company
("TKGM") in Ethiopia, and Gold & Minerals Ltd ("G&M") in Saudi Arabia.
 

An Investor Webinar will be held on Wednesday 24 August 2022 at 12.00 midday
London time (see details below). A presentation will be uploaded to the
website on Monday 22 August 2022, which will be presented at the webinar by
senior operational executives.

Highlights

 

During July and August 2022, continued regulatory progress has enabled KEFI
with its preparations for project financings and development of its portfolio
of assets in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia. Notable developments are summarised
below.

 

Ethiopia:

 

·    In July 2022 the Ministry of Mines endorsed historical investment of
c. US$80 million to 31 December 2020 to enable the registration of KEFI's past
equity investments and confirm the TKGM capital structure for our co-investors
into TKGM;

·    In August 2022 the Ethiopian Prime Ministry endorsed that both
proposed TKGM project finance banks, being East Africa Trade and Development
Bank ("TDB") and Africa Finance Corporation ("AFC"), are permitted to proceed
with the proposed combined c. US$200M funding package with the same rights and
protections;

·    Independent reports and advice were received from SLR Consulting and
Constellis, in relation to social licence and security respectively, in August
2022. These reports were compiled after consulting the relevant Ethiopian
authorities and were supportive of TKGM's proposed community and security
plans for the Project launch;

·    Throughout the period, KEFI continued detailed reporting to the
Ministry of Mines, with whom we reaffirmed plans for Project launch in October
2022.

 

Saudi Arabia

 

·    The Ministry of Industry and Mines confirmed in August 2022 that the
Jibal Qutman Gold Project should be fast-tracked to development, having
cleared the blockages which hindered progress since a mining licence
application was submitted in 2015. First gold production from Jibal Qutman is
targeted for 2024, around the same time as applies to Tulu Kapi in
Ethiopia;

·    An additional exploration licence was granted within the Wadi Bidah
Mineralisation Belt ("WBMB") at Abu Salal South in August 2022, reinforcing
the growth potential of our large Hawiah Copper-Gold discovery and the
adjacent Al Godeyer prospects.

·    Jabal Hillit and Qunnah "Al Qassim" exploration licences were awarded
in July 2022, situated approximately 30km apart, and straddling the
prospective Ad Dawadimi and Afif terranes in the eastern portion of the
Arabian Shield in Saudi Arabia;

·    In August 2022, the Jadib Al Qahtanah exploration licence was
awarded, 45km east of the Nahad Ad Dahab mine, the principal historic Saudi
gold and silver mine;

·    So far during 2022 we have had more licences granted than in the
previous 14 years in Saudi Arabia, testament to the regulatory overhaul in the
country as well as our leading position in the sector. Please see RNS of 12
July 2022 and 3 August 2022 for further details, including some impressive
field sampling results.

 

KEFI Group

 

·    KEFI has been rapidly expanding its resource base for two years and
regulatory progress during July and August reinforces that momentum. KEFI's
beneficial interest in gold-equivalent mineral resources has grown from 1.2
million ounces in mid-2020 to 2.1 million ounces at the end of 2021, with
further growth underway in 2022 and anticipated in the coming years;

·    Having three advanced projects in two countries has now placed the
Company in a stronger diversified position, with all three also receiving
higher regulatory support;

·    In April 2022 KEFI also significantly de-risked the parent company
balance sheet by raising £8 million of equity to repay liabilities and
reinforce project momentum. The Company today has cash at bank and working
capital facilities to execute on its development plans as outlined.

·    The corporate equity issues over the past year have also seen a
number of institutional investors join the register;

·    The overall finance plan remains in accordance with previous guidance
(see Finance Director Report of 2021 Annual Report) with all three projects
involving project finance syndication, mostly at project level.

 

Investor Webinar

The Company will provide a presentation and live webinar via the Investor Meet
Company platform on Wednesday 24 August 2022 at 12.00 midday London time.

 

The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions
can be submitted at any time during the live presentation.

 

Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet KEFI
via:

https://www.investormeetcompany.com/kefi-gold-and-copper-plc/register-investor
(https://www.investormeetcompany.com/kefi-gold-and-copper-plc/register-investor)

 

The webinar will subsequently be available on the Company's website at:

http://www.kefi-minerals.com/news/webcasts
(http://www.kefi-minerals.com/news/webcasts) .

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law
by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of
MAR.

Enquiries

 KEFI Gold and Copper plc
 Harry Anagnostaras-Adams (Managing Director)                         +357 99457843
 John Leach (Finance Director)                                        +357 99208130
 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)  +44 (0) 20 3470 0470
 Jeff Keating, Adam Cowl
 Tavira Securities Limited (Joint Broker)                             +44 (0) 20 7100 5100
 Oliver Stansfield, Jonathan Evans
 WH Ireland Limited (Joint Broker)                                    +44 (0) 20 7220 1666
 Katy Mitchell, Andrew de Andrade
 IFC Advisory Ltd (Financial PR and IR)                               +44 (0) 20 3934 6630
 Tim Metcalfe, Florence Chandler

 

KEFI Gold and Copper plc

KEFI is focused primarily on the advancement of its three development projects
in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, plus its pipeline of highly prospective
exploration projects in these two large jurisdictions of the under-explored
Arabian-Nubian Shield.  KEFI targets that production at Tulu Kapi in Ethiopia
and Jibal Qutman in Saudi Arabia will, between them, generate cash flows for
capital repayments, further organic growth and dividends to shareholders.

 

Both TKGM and G&M are technically guided and supported by KEFI so that
each of these operating joint venture companies as soon as possible builds the
local organisational structure suitable for long term production as well as
exploration and future development opportunities.

 

KEFI Gold and Copper in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is currently undergoing a remarkable transformation both politically
and economically.

 

The Tulu Kapi gold project in western Ethiopia is being progressed towards
development, following a grant of a Mining Licence in April 2015. No other
mining project of this scale in Ethiopia has been brought to Tulu Kapi's stage
of advancement during recent years and Tulu Kapi will be the first industrial
scale mine development in Ethiopia in over 30 years. It has taken years of
extensive technical re-design of the project, years of overhaul by the
Ethiopian authorities of financial policies which previously hindered mining
project finance and the patient and cautious traversing by the Company of
recent well-publicised events within the country. The project has imposed many
demands on a regulatory system which the Ethiopian Government continues to
upgrade, determined to build a modern minerals sector. KEFI is honored to play
its part in this process and has assembled a first-tier syndicate of
international industry expert management, contractors, banks and investors.

 

The Company has now refined contractual terms for project construction and
operation. Estimates include open pit gold production of c. 140,000oz pa for a
7-year period. All-in Sustaining Costs (including operating, sustaining
capital, royalties and closure but not including leasing and other financing
charges) remain c. US$800-1000/oz depending on the gold price. Tulu Kapi's Ore
Reserve estimate totals 15.4Mt at 2.1g/t gold, containing 1.1Moz.

 

All aspects of the Tulu Kapi (open pit) gold project have been reported in
compliance with the JORC Code (2012) and subjected to reviews by appropriate
independent experts.

 

A Preliminary Economic Assessment has been published that indicates the
economic attractiveness of mining the underground deposit adjacent to the Tulu
Kapi open pit, after the start-up of the open pit and after positive cash
flows have begun to repay project debts.

 

KEFI remains keen to re-commence its exploration of the additional prospects
it has successfully identified within the Tulu Kapi district exploration area
from within which the mining licence was duly excised as a result of the
successful discovery of the Tulu Kapi deposit. Whilst most historical drilling
was naturally of the Tulu Kapi deposit, there was significant work done on
many further prospects which await follow-up.

 

Whilst awaiting regulatory permission to re-activate the Company's Ethiopian
exploration, which is critical for long term planning for all stakeholders in
the community as well as the Company, the exploration focus has been
successfully switched to Saudi Arabia.

 

KEFI Gold and Copper in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In 2009, KEFI formed Gold & Minerals Limited ("G&M") in Saudi Arabia
with local Saudi partner, ARTAR, to explore for gold and associated metals in
the Arabian-Nubian Shield. KEFI has a c. 30% interest in G&M.

 

ARTAR, on behalf of G&M, and G&M directly held over 16 Exploration
Licence (EL) applications pending the introduction of the new Mining Law.
These new regulations have recently been proclaimed and G&M has had seven
new licences issued in the past nine months - more licence grants than in the
previous 14 years and all highly prospective and strategically important for
G&M, ELs are renewable for up to five years and bestow the exclusive right
to explore and to obtain a 30-year exploitation (mining) licence within the
area.

 

In addition, G&M has a Mining Licence Application over the Jibal Qutman
Gold Project which recent informal indications by the authorities provide some
confidence that the licence will be granted shortly.

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCGPUPCRUPPPUA