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(Alliance News) - Kefi Gold & Copper on Tuesday said that its Saudi gold development project was "starting to shape up its plans for production", after recent drill works revealed a high-grade deposit.
The Cyprus-based gold exploration company, focused on assets in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, said that it had made significant discoveries at the Asfingia area of the Jibal Qutman Gold Project, in which Kefi holds a 25% stake.
Having undertaken a 13,000 metre in-fill drilling programme in the third quarter of 2023, followed by resource expansion drilling, Kefi said it had discovered a satellite deposit hosting "excellent" grades of up to 66.6 grams of gold per tonne of ore.
Systematic exploration continues across 270 square kilometres of the Jibal Qutman licences, which Kefi said will help identify further resource potential of the project. Sampling and scout drilling are underway across multiple targets, alongside drone surveying, geological mapping, trenching and geophysical surveying. Kefi's Saudi-Arabian joint venture partner at Jibal Qutman, ARTAR, has agreed to fund the programme while Kefi eyes the launch of its Tulu Kapi gold project in western Ethiopia. Last week, the company said that financing agreements for Tulu Kapi were in "near final form", and that the project had received approval from "key syndicate members".
Kefi also said that the ongoing feasibility study at Jibal Qutman had made "excellent progress", with results expected in mid-2024. A preferred production start-up plan is also expected by mid-2024.
Executive Chair Harry Anagnostaras-Adams said: "Jibal Qutman Gold is starting to shape up its plans for production. During the remainder of H1 2024, we expect to report a series of steps as we simultaneously select our preferred production start-up plan and aggressively test our recent breakthroughs in the geological understanding of the mineralised system. We have two diamond rigs running 24/7 and reverse circulation rigs will shortly join the project."
Shares in Kefi were up 6.1% at 0.64 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.
By Hugh Cameron, Alliance News reporter
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