Proactive Investors - KEFI Gold and Copper PLC (LON:KEFI) has said it is still targeting the end of this year for construction to start at the Tulu Kapi gold mine in Ethiopia.
“KEFI and the project syndicate remain focused on achieving project launch as soon as practicable, commencing full construction in Q4-2023, having by then triggered procurement and community resettlement, and leading to gold production from open pit ore in 2025, " the company said in a statement with its annual results.
More than 90% of the construction costs of Tulu Kapi will be at the project or subsidiary level, added the junior, from newly introduced regional investors, bankers, contractors, and other syndicate parties.
Construction and mine contracts have already been signed.
A funding round recently raised £6.4mln from investors and the company noted that exploration and pre-development funding for its other projects will likely continue to rely exclusively on equity funding and its foundation partners in-country.
This includes the DFS-stage development studies on the Jibal Qutman gold project, finalising the PFS for the Hawiah Copper-Gold Project and prospecting exploration targets in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia.
Losses for the year to end-December 2022 were £6.36mln (2021: £4.9mln).