KEFI Minerals plc (LON:KEFI), the gold and copper exploration and development company with projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, has today reported the escalation of preparatory field activities in relation to the Company’s Tulu Kapi Gold Project in Ethiopia since announcing on 8 October 2018 that local, zonal and regional authorities had confirmed their intention to expedite community resettlement.
The authorities have undertaken the necessary preparatory steps to carry out the planned community resettlement in Q1 2019. The addition field activities in the past week include the following surveys and inspections:
· Completion of a 14km road route survey by the Ethiopian Roads Authority, for a new road required for the Project production phase;
· Completion of a 47 km route survey for electricity transmission lines from the regional main line to the site for the Tulu Kapi sub-station, carried out by the Ethiopian Electricity Power Corporation;
· Siting of the last geotechnical drilling to enable the final design of foundations for the processing plant and associated infrastructure, set out by Lycopodium with independent geotechnical consultants Knight Piesold;
· Reconfirmation of compensation calculations, carried out by the local government (Wareda);
· An inspection of new host lands, being carried out by the West Walega Zonal Administration; and
· Follow-up base line environmental surveys completed by independent consultant Golder Associates.
KEFI Minerals said that it is pleased to report that the field and community work has intensified now that the 2018 wet season has passed. These developments are progressing in parallel with work on government administrative tasks, construction planning and financing arrangements. All parties are focused on construction start-up in early 2019 and first production in H2 2020. Further updates will be provided as matters progress.
