Name of the Project
Tulu Kapi gold project.
Location
Western Ethiopia.
Project Owner/s
Kefi Gold and Copper (formerly KEFI Minerals) will own 80% of the exploration and holding company for Ethiopia, KME, which, in turn, will own 56% of Tulu Kapi Gold Mines Share Company (TKGM), thus bestowing Kefi with a 45% beneficial interest in the project.
Project Description
Tulu Kapi has an ore reserve estimate of 15.4-million tonnes at 2.1 g/t gold for 1.1-million ounces of gold.
Openpit gold production is estimated at 140 000 oz/y over a seven-year mine life.
Total life-of-mine production is estimated at 980 000 oz.
The conventional openpit mining operation will include a carbon-in-leach processing plant. The mine will be connected to Ethiopia’s electricity grid through a new 47-km-long, 132 kV dedicated power line relatively close to the country’s major hydropower-generation source. An emergency diesel power plant will also be installed to provide emergency backup power for critical process equipment in the event of a grid power failure.
A preliminary economic assessment has indicated the economic attractiveness of mining the underground deposit adjacent to the Tulu Kapi openpit after the startup of the openpit and the repaying of project debts through positive cash flows.
Potential Job Creation
About 150 local personnel have been employed to prepare new host lands.
TKGM has started compensation procedures for the small portion of the community who is to be resettled and occupies the site for the planned electricity substation. Starter homes have been fabricated and are being delivered to site for assembly.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.
Capital Expenditure
While there have been no material changes in the estimated $253-million in capital costs of the project – comprising about $221-million for development, about $21-million for sustaining capital and about $21-million for closure costs – a standby facility has now been included in the finance plan to provide additional headroom.
Planned Start/End Date
Commissioning of the project is planned for 2023, with key development activities due to start in December 2021.
Latest Developments
Kefi Minerals expects to receive project finance confirmation for its Tulu Kapi gold project by the end of January, with the project’s full launch expected between February and May.
The country’s Ministry of Mines also confirmed a licence for the project, valid until 2035, in early November.
These developments follow a temporary pause of the project during September and October, owing to the prohibition of site access imposed by government security authorities, which followed the abduction of four staff members.
Kefi’s beneficial interest in the project is now expected to be about 70%, up from the 45% expected in 2020, making the project “significantly value accretive”.
Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Corica Group (mining contractor).
Contact Details for Project Information
KEFI Gold and Copper, tel +90 232 381 9431, fax +90 232 381 9071 or email info@kefi-minerals.com.