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"Subscription for Shares and a Placing of Shares at 1.25 pence per Ordinary Share", today mid 1.175p so why is it showing 34% up?
The Dutch downgraded Ethiopia's credit rating due to exchange rate risk. What risk does exchange rate pose to our TKGM project in Ethiopia?
A: Our revenues will be in USD and our costs partly in USD and partly in Ethiopian Birr. Therefore the downside on the Birr (against the dollar) is, for the most part, an upside for TKGM and the country. That is why the country wants to build its USD export sector whick TKGM will be a major contributor to.
Posted 06 November 2023
Various questions regarding management and ownership
Q: No offence to management, but could the Ethiopian Government need to see local people appointed to leadership positions before granting final permits to proceed. As was the case in Spain for EMED?
A: Every situation is different. Effecting change clearly involves making changes. In Spain the non-locals had to clean up the project and set it up for launch. Then the appointment of locals as management empowered the company for the next step..
The Ethiopian project is permitted and there are no such impediments with Government or any other stakeholder. Quite the opposite in that the stakeholders need to see committed leadership pending locals being groomed for succession in this new sector, wherever feasible. In Ethiopia we are simply (and frustratingly) grinding through the process of making bankable a first-mover project in a country which has had a lot of turbulence recently and which has had to change laws and regulations to accommodate us.
Q: Who are the people paid historically via companies Nancito and Winchcombe?
A: Nancito is the company of former TKGM Managing Director and Winchcombe of the current GMCO Managing Director and Group COO and their former colleague who also supported KEFI at times.
The remuneration attributable to the individuals involved has been reported in the PDMR section of the Annual Report.
Q: How much does the Chairman get paid by companies other than KEFI?
A: The Chairman does not serve in an executive capacity for any entity other than KEFI. As a non-executive director of Venus minerals he is entitled to receive fees of GBP15k per annum. Other matters are purely family based and private.
Posted 02 November 2023
Undisclosed fees to KEFI management?
Q: Some bulletin board comments give the impression that the Chairman and perhaps other PDMR’s receive fees from other companies in the KEFI group past or present, and which are not disclosed. Please clarify if this is the case?
A: All remuneration is disclosed in KEFI's annual report. Anonymously publishing a falsehood does not change its character as a falsehood.
Posted 12 October 2023
Questions regarding Saudi JV,AIM and kefi staff.
Q.Why did KEFI not keep its original 40% interest in the Saudi Arabia JV?
A: Because of the dilution effect at the parent company level.
Q: How do we avoid dilution to an immaterial ownership level in the Saudi assets?
A: As recently reported, the corporate structure is being revised to allow more financings at the level of different subsidiaries which, themselves, may consider an IPO in regional stock exchanges.
Q: The Chairman is critical of AIM. Has he ever done well from the stockmarket? I ask because I can see the strength of the team on the ground pulling through all the challenges of these projects and hopefully soon-to-be-start-ups in frontier markets, but I am looking for evidence that KEFI’s leadership understand markets.
A: It is a statistical fact that the AIM market is currently at its weakest since being formed in 1995. And that the sectoral index has performed worse that the KEFI share price since both peaked in 2011.
For that and other reasons, KEFI has arranged project financing in the local unlisted markets. We consider that to reflect an uncommon strength of the team. And we consider that it emanates from a record of successful start-ups in Europe and Australia in a number of commodities as well as in the non-mining sector.
Q: Why are KEFI staff based in so many locations rather than in England?
A: All project staff are at project sites. All corporate governance staff are in Cyprus. A handful of other staff and most specialist consultants are in various time zones around the world, designed to maintain momentum 24/7 on key functions.
Posted 11 October 2023
Q. Regarding disclosure of share trading via TR-1 forms, when was RAB Capital required to disclose their holdings in KEFI and did they comply?
A: Any holder of more than 3% in an AIM-listed company must disclose via a TR-1 if (a) the holding drops below 3% or (b) a 1% change of shareholding was triggered (up or down) above 3%. RAB recently reported category (a).
Q: Why did RAB Capital sell?
A: We cannot speak for RAB, who have been supportive investors for decades in KEFI as well as in previous companies involving KEFI's leadership team.
Q: Is it correct that the Executive Chairman has received cash remuneration totalling £1.7 million since 2006 (approximately £100,000 per annum on average)?
A: That is approximately correct.
Q: How many shares have contractors and employees been issued recently that are perhaps being sold to pay their bills?
A: None have ever been sold by PDMR’s since a former director sold more than a decade ago, as was reported at the time. No contractors have been issued or sold shares, other than PDMR’s which is already answered.
Q: How does the Tulu Kapi capex budget compare with that of Hummingbird’s new $100 million 1Mtpa processing plant in west Africa?
A: The budget for Tulu Kapi's 2Mtpa processing plant is $170 million. We are not in a position to compare non-plant capex items of mining, social and finance costs.
Q: Who answers investor questions and is involved in KEFI's investor relations generally?
A: Our IR adviser in London manages official disclosures while the IR Manager in Australia manages the website and enquiries. Others are also involved in the process either for oversight or assembling answers (eg line management under the executive chairman)
Posted 10 October 2023
Various questions in relation to interim financial accounts
Q: Why do you not eliminate the material uncertainty noted in the financial accounts given that it is suppressing the share price?
A: The material uncertainty has existed since the IPO in 2006 and may remain the case until we are in production and generating positive cash flows.
Q: The interims accounts refer to a legal claim and to a problem with an Exploration Licence. Do these problems affect the credit approval?
A: No. These do not affect the Tulu Kapi Project which is being financed. Both have been known for a year or two and are symptomatic of attempted last-minute money grabs that neither the banks nor we will tolerate.
Q: Is it not provocative to publicize that you are taking action to recover the Eexploration Licences near Tulu Kapi? Would it not disturb the banks or the government?
A: Legitimately and collaboratively protecting the Company’s rights is both a mandatory responsibility and, more so, is how we have achieved strong working relationships with all the parties involved. We talk to all these parties continually and all are comfortable with our conduct. Also, it is quite clear that the exploration areas have no bearing on the Mining Licence or the Tulu Kapi Project itself.
Posted 02 October 2023