London based mining, KEFI Gold and Copper PLC announced that it restarted the development of the Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia after being postponed for five months on security concerns.
The company said the decision is made after it has worked intensely with the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines to monitor the situation to ensure that it is appropriate for the recommencement of activities at the Tulu Kapi site and in the wider district.
“Over the past two months the security situation has remained stable at both the site and the preferred transport routes, enabling activities at the Tulu Kapi site to recommence in an appropriately managed manner,” the company said in a statement.
The Project’s principal contractors, which are working on the plant construction and mine services, are expected to deliver the final costs for confirmation at the end of April 2022, the official foundation of Tulu Kapi is also scheduled in the same month.
According to the company, it is now recommencing refurbishment of the existing site camp to accommodate the initial construction workforce and has recently completed a detailed design for the procurement and construction of the necessary facilities.
“It is great to see that Ethiopia has settled down so quickly over the past two months and that the project’s teams are back in the field for launch preparations. Everyone is now pushing for a full Project launch,” said Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, KEFI Executive Chairman.
“And it’s doubly impactful that the turnaround in Ethiopia has coincided with a take-off of our projects in Saudi Arabia. KEFI has turned onto the front foot in both jurisdictions, after particularly frustrating years in both,” he added.
Tulu Kapi is part of the KEFI-operated Ethiopia joint-venture Tulu Kapi Gold Mines Share Company.
Last December, KEFI shareholders announced on Dec 22, that it will allocate an additional 800 million Br.for developmental projects, which are the launch of Tulu Kapi in Ethiopia and KEFI’s two other development projects in Saudi Arabia, Hawaii Copper & Gold and Jibal Qutman Gold.
