Strategy
The mission of KEFI is to discover and acquire economic mineralisation, particularly gold and copper, and follow through with cost-effective responsible exploration, mine development and production in compliance with local laws and international best practice.
Our geological region of focus is the Arabian-Nubian Shield, due to its outstanding prospectivity. KEFI’s three advanced projects are in the two countries that contain the majority of the Arabian-Nubian Shield.
Our activities provide a strong project pipeline covering the spectrum from our Tulu Kapi Gold Project (“Tulu Kapi”) at the funding stage in Ethiopia, to our Jibal Qutman Gold Project (“Jibal Qutman”) and Hawiah Copper-Gold Project (“Hawiah”) at the feasibility study stage in Saudi Arabia and to walk-up drill targets in both countries.
Our mission now takes us to the stage of de-risking our advanced projects in order to help close the gap between our stock market capitalisation and the Company’s underlying intrinsic value. As we move forward to production and profit-generation, we will concurrently explore the pipeline of targets we have cherry-picked since 2006 as well as consider other opportunities that will take advantage of, and add value to, our hard-earned, early-mover position in these countries.
Approach
KEFI has focused on prospecting in frontier markets (for modern exploration and mining) and specifically on the Arabian-Nubian Shield since 2008. The 2014 acquisition of Tulu Kapi triggered the appointment of an in-country team with track records in successfully financing, developing and operating mines in Africa and elsewhere.
KEFI emphasises the building of strong regional alliances, illustrated by our partnerships with:
- Abdul Rahman Saad Al Rashid and Sons Company Limited (“ARTAR”) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in our Gold and Minerals Co. Limited (“GMCO”) joint venture; and
- Federal Government and the Oromia Regional Government in Ethiopia for our Tulu Kapi Gold Mines S.C. (“TKGM”) joint venture.
We also have strong relationships with major regional banks such as Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (“TDB”) and Africa Finance Corporation (“AFC”), and work closely with the Saudi Industrial Development Fund.
Our community relationships are founded on the principles of International Finance Corporation (World Bank) Performance Standards and Equator Principles, as are our environmental standards. Operationally, we align with industry specialists such as Lycopodium Limited (“Lycopodium”), our principal process plant contractor in both Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia and PW Mining International Limited (“PW Mining”), our mining services contractor for Tulu Kapi in Ethiopia. We prioritise people and environment above all else.
KEFI adheres to the highest principles of ethical and transparent behaviour. Geological reporting is in accordance with the JORC Code, the internationally recognised Australian standard for reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.
The scale of KEFI’s project pipeline in each of Ethiopia aand Saudi Arabia dwarfs that of its advanced projects. Therefore the opportunity to create value beyond the initial development propositions is huge.