Aim-listed Kefi Gold and Copper's subsidiary Tulu Kapi Gold Mines Share Company (TKGM), has completed its recent incident management and investigations and is now preparing for the launch of the Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia.
Members of Kefi's senior management team are based in Ethiopia to support the various project teams, including those at the Tulu Kapi site, which remains quiet despite the security situation elsewhere in the country, with the closest conflicts several hundred kilometres from TKGM's sites, Kefi says in a November 26 statement.
Since the company's last update of the project earlier this month, it notes that there has been a significant escalation of efforts, both domestically and internationally, to bring to an end Ethiopia's internal conflicts.
Kefi says it remains optimistic these efforts will result in a positive resolution to the dispute and preparations continue for project launch, with TKGM's current focus on satisfying all technical conditions precedent by the end of January 2022 and preparing the community.
Meanwhile, Kefi-operated joint venture company Gold and Minerals (G&M) remains on track to update and upgrade the mineral resource estimate at its Hawiah copper/gold project in Saudi Arabia before the end of this year.
This update will incorporate the additional resources defined from the results of its successful 29 814 m Phase 3 and Phase 4 drilling programmes, completed recently, and post the maiden resource estimate of 19.3-million tonnes at 1.9% copper-equivalent announced in August 2020.
The company expects tonnage, grade and resource classification to increase.
Kefi also reports that communications with the regulatory authorities in Saudi Arabia have led it to expect clarification of mining licence tenure at its Jibal Qutman gold project in 2022.