Aim-listed Kefi Minerals has successfully garnered shareholder support for its intended placement of shares to raise £6.4-million.
Executive chairperson Harry Anagnostaras-Adams says this significantly de-risks the company’s balance sheet, as it can remove liabilities totalling £5.7-million and add £500 000 to its working capital.
He adds that the company can now make more progress on some major fronts – the launch of the Tulu Kapi gold project, in Ethiopia, and the completion of a preliminary feasibility study on the Hawiah copper/gold project, in Saudi Arabia.
The company also awaits a mining licence grant for the Jibal Qutman gold project, in Saudi Arabia.
Kefi expects to generate about $560-million of revenue a year once all three projects are in operation, of which Kefi’s attributable share will be $280-million.
The company’s Tulu Kapi finance syndicate sits on standby until military tension starts dissipating in the country, which should be soon, considering that the Ethiopian government formed a national dialogue commission to seek long-term solutions to the conflict.
In terms of exploration, Anagnostaras-Adams explains that the Kefi-managed company Gold & Minerals in Saudi Arabia completed a Phase 4 drilling programme and reported expanded resources on the Hawiah project. The project’s recoverable in-situ metal is estimated to be about 2.2-million gold-equivalent ounces, compared with Tulu Kapi’s recoverable 1.2-million ounces.
The company has also been granted to new exploration licences near Hawiah, which should prove fruitful for further resource expansion.