Proactive Investors - KEFI (LON:KEFI) said it has signed the final umbrella agreement for project financing of the Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia.
Signing took place at a ceremony in Addis Ababa attended by a number of senior Ethiopian Government officials, the British Prime Minister's trade envoy and the ambassadors to Ethiopia for Britain and for Australia.
The agreement sets out the development sequence for Tulu Kapi over the course of 2023 as formally laid out for the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and signed by Project contractors PW Mining and Lycopodium (ASX:LYL).
PWM will provide mining services under its life-of-mine mining services agreement (the largest single component of life-of-mine operating costs at US$992mln).
Lycopodium will provide engineering, procurement, and construction management supply and labour hire services in respect of processing infrastructure under its contracts (the largest component of the US$320mln development costs).
Harry Adams, KEFI executive chairman, said: "We move forward successfully despite the complexities of such syndications and, in particular, being the first to do so against the backdrop of a fast-changing Ethiopia.
"We thank the new Minister for Mines, H.E Habtamu Tegegn, and his team for their energetic leadership and his commitment to rapidly advancing the mining sector in Ethiopia.
"We push for construction in Q4 2023 following procurement and community preparations."
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