Aim-listed Kefi Gold and Copper has completed the last of many special permissions and policy changes agreed with the Ethiopian authorities over the years since Kefi assumed control of the Tulu Kapi gold project.

The Tulu Kapi project is now finally fully permitted with only procedural administrative confirmations remaining.

The company on October 5 received formal confirmation from the National Bank of Ethiopia of the details for the operation of offshore banking by Kefi’s operating subsidiary, Tulu Kapi Gold Mines Share Company (TKGM) and its project finance banks.

This clarifies the operational details for the implementation of the policies set out in the recently published National Bank of Ethiopia Directives, which waives strategic mining projects from foreign exchange control and capital controls.

The special permissions and policy changes allow modern project finance arrangements to be applied given there has been no industrial-scale mine development in Ethiopia for 30 years.

With all matters of principle for the project now having been resolved with the authorities, the project finance banks can proceed to final credit approval for the project's $190-million secured debt package.

Upon approval, Tulu Kapi’s detailed debt terms will have been resolved, as will the structure of the overall $390-million finance plan, of which the secured debt component amounts to $190-million and the equity risk capital to $130-million.

Contractor supply of mining equipment amounts to $70-million.  

This is considered the pivotal formal step for project launch and, upon receipt of final credit approvals, the procurement teams and the social performance teams will be mobilised so that all final details can be inserted into the detailed definitive documents covering the project. This will then be signed off by all parties involved in the project.

Kefi expects to launch the project in the current quarter.