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"We continue to step up activities for signing the financing syndicate umbrella agreement next month, enabling full construction to commence from October, at the end of the wet season.
"This week an all-parties meeting of the Tulu Kapi Gold Project finance syndicate confirmed the plan and timetable to senior officers of the Ministry of Mines, with the recently announced KEFI fund-raisings forming part of the full finance plan for development.
"KEFI has been able to pivot onto a much more positive direction since December 2021 due to geopolitics, regulatory changes and exploration results. We now have three advanced projects in two countries that are now overtly pro-development - a more positive and less risky position than KEFI has confronted for many years."
this is what we were waiting for!
Progress in Ethiopia over the past month has remained on track, with further advancement on the multi-party project financing activities and the early development works. Signing of the umbrella financing agreement remains on course for this quarter, with full construction to commence at the end of the current wet season.
This week an all-parties meeting of the Tulu Kapi Gold Project ("Tulu Kapi" or "Project") finance syndicate re-confirmed this plan to senior officers of the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines.
Highlights of the past month
Key initial development activities have continued.
The financing syndicate's umbrella agreement is currently being formalised with a view to execution next month. The underlying detailed agreements with each of the individual counterparties are to be executed following the satisfaction of the few remaining conditions precedent, which themselves are standard for a transaction of this nature and predominantly relate to expected Government commitments, including successful installation of increased security and confirmations of various other Project and banks' protections.
The last month's Project activities included:
· Receiving a positive comprehensive independent report on safety conditions and recommendations. Conclusions included that TKGM's proposed risk-staged Project launch is appropriate and lays the security foundation for long term successful operation;
· Completing upgrades to the exploration camp for initial construction crews;
· Completing Front End Engineering and Design for procurement of the process plant;
· Updating pricing for mining services and the process plant. These will shortly be independently reviewed, but the Company does not believe there will be any material changes to previously reported Project economics;
· Electricity supply equipment arriving in Ethiopia ahead of installation;
· Establishing the Tulu Kapi Charitable Endowment to go beyond the activities of the Community Development Fund required under the local regulations for launch in May; and
· Setting aside the funds for implementation of the first stage resettlement compensation.
we have a few derampers who like to post rubbish about the war or incidents miles from our site. I always check them here and inevitably find absolutely nothing to support their spurious claims
https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/World+News/Africa/Ethiopia
Thanks for all the positivism Rob!
Looks like we are waiting for some permits/decisions etc from EG for significant progress at TK. Given the mining minister's keenness we shouldn't have to wait too long for those. Any signing by investors of TK in June, whether final or not, will multi bag this given the previous delays....
"It's great to see the continued stream of results and news coming from Saudi Arabia as the Hawiah Copper-Gold and Jibal Qutman Gold projects push towards development. The team is pleased to be able to deliver rapid progress across all fronts given the very supportive stance taken by the Saudi Government recently.
"At Hawiah, the team is progressing at great speed on this growing project. We remain on track to complete the PFS and updated MRE in late 2022 and expect regular updates on the exploration work that is underway. These latest results from the gold-rich oxide domain confirm that we have a good handle on the geological model and that the open-pit portion of the development continues to be a robust option to generate early project revenue. It is also encouraging to see promising results coming out of the Central Zone ahead of the drilling programmes that are set to kick-off in the coming months.
"The Jibal Qutman Gold Project also looks like it may emerge quickly as a larger than previously contemplated development proposition, after some years stuck in regulatory clearances.
"Following our capital raise of £8 million in April 2022, KEFI can meet its funding obligations in Saudi Arabia to keep up with this highly active and aggressive growth campaign across the three licence areas within Saudi Arabia and we can also continue the risk-managed step up of early development works in Ethiopia. This paves the way for full construction in Ethiopia from October 2022 at the end of the local wet season, with the initial signing at end June 2022 setting out any residual conditions to be satisfied with Government."
Are we still on track for June closure of the Tulu Kapi finance package?
A: We are because of the capital raise. Otherwise we would not have remained so because we could not
proceed to do various tasks on the ground and we could not have demonstrated to the banks and others
in the syndicate that the warrant-exercise proceeds were lined up with institutions to complete the
package as has been agreed in the syndicate, subject to final pricing confirmations by the contractors
which is in train.
Why placing price of 0.8p given the share price prior to announcement?
A. The price at which placings can be undertaken are not just set with reference to the share price
immediately prior to their closing. Throughout Q1 2022 the share price never closed above 0.85p and
the VWAP for the quarter was 0.76p, so all things being equal, to raise £8M at 0.8p was intended to be
very aggressive pricing by the company. Of course we know that in the couple of weeks prior to the
announcement of the placing the shares picked up momentum, however the institutional investors we
were talking to looked at the longer term share price picture and orders were placed on that basis at
0.8p. I am significant shareholder myself and would have preferred the price to be higher, but we had
given the share price three months in 2022 to reflect the positive news and value created. And as
mentioned previously we needed to raise cash given the composition of the December 2021 raise. To
have waited any longer would have damaged various timetables on other fronts from where much more
money was being contributed to the project development – to delay or undermine those negotiations
and timetables would have done much damage to the interests of KEFI shareholders.
Q. What does it mean for value of KEFI going forward, is there still material upside?
A. There is still significant upside in KEFI across our portfolio of assets. If you just account for additional
shares post the £8M raise and assume no further value is created with that money (which we think is
unrealistic) and the £8M cash isn’t added to the assets then our internal NPV is at 9p a share, so
approximately 10x. If you take into account prevailing commodity prices we are 12p a share, so 15x.
Upside potential remains on all our assets as well. So the prize and returns are still there and our ability
to realise this value has been significantly derisked by the material cash we now have. We are working
very hard to deliver this value for all shareholders.
Q: Are you likely to need more funds anytime soon?
We now have sufficient funds to meet our share of operations in Saudi and to reach financial close on
Tulu Kapi on the outlined timetable
KEFI Gold and Copper plc (AIM: KEFI), the gold and copper exploration and development company with projects in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announces that, further to the announcement made on 20 April 2022 , a General Meeting of the Company will be held on 17 May 2022 at 10 a.m. BST at Marlin Waterloo, Lower Ground Floor, 111 Westminster Bridge Road, Waterloo, SE1 7HR, United Kingdom.
we don't know yet what will happen with the placement shares. Last lot when to contractors, employees etc many of whom were looking to cash in, or take 10%. The new lot may sell up for 10% or they may be here for the Real Deal. So, may not be much of an overhang to remove on good news....
well, there's nothing here - and you would expect it to be
https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/World+News/Africa/Ethiopia
in the real world it's all about improving security...
https://addisstandard.com/business-kefi-gold-raises-8mln-to-boost-security-arrangements-at-tulu-kapi-ahead-of-start-of-construction/
and this;
Q4: My question is about the investment of $9m by locals for 6% of Tulu Kapi. The disaster with ANS Mining 2019/2020 is well known. 1. is there a requirement from the Ethiopian government that locals must invest? 2. what is the probability that the investment of 9m$ will be made in the 2nd quarter of 2022? 3. What is Kefi's contingency plan if the $9m from locals does not happen in Q2 2022? 4. capital increases have been successfully carried out to pay consultants. Why doesn't Kefi Gold and Copper finance the $9m through a capital increase - and continue to receive 6% in Tulu Kapi in return?
1. there is no requirement for locals to invest. 2. The investment will follow finance closing or signing of binding documents by everyone. 3. There is more than one local party interested for that role 4. KEFI would be happy to pay for the 8% and get the extra shareholding, but needs to ensure that locals with a role to play have had every opportunity to participate.