KEFI shares surge as situation in Ethiopia improves

KEFI Gold and Copper issued a positive update on the security situation in Ethiopia on Monday, following the government’s launch of “major military offensives” in late November to drive rebel militias out of the states they had recently occupied.

The AIM-traded firm said that in recent days, both sides in the conflict had reported that the rebel militias were withdrawing, with the government publicly appealing to local communities to treat the retreating rebels “with dignity”.

KEFI said it was a “very positive development”, and reinforced its optimism that peace would soon be restored in Ethiopia.

Its project teams had remained on the ground throughout this period of broader national conflict, preparing for the launch of the company's Tulu Kapi Gold Project in an “appropriate, safety-minded” manner.

At the same time, project syndicate members had reaffirmed their intended participation as soon as compliance was demonstrated with normal conditions precedent, including the community and security aspects of World Bank IFC Performance Standards, which was also a condition of the mining licence.

Developments on the ground in recent days had largely driven the area of major conflict back to its origin in Tigray, helping to establish a “promising scene” for the hoped-for de-escalation, ceasefire and peaceful resolution.

KEFI said that in its view, there was “little doubt” that Ethiopia would then rapidly regain its position among the world's top 10 growth countries, and that the minerals sector would play an “important role”, with the Tulu Kapi project as one of the first movers.

“We are especially happy for our host country Ethiopia and its overwhelmingly peace-loving citizens,” said executive chairman Harry Anagnostaras-Adams.

“We deeply thank our personnel, our community and other stakeholders for working so tirelessly during the challenging times of 2021 in Ethiopia which now show real promise of being put behind us.

“It is also wonderful to hear that many of the company's Ethiopian friends and associates living in other countries are planning to spend Christmas in Ethiopia celebrating with their extended families the expected imminent resolution of the internal conflicts.”

Anagnostaras-Adams said that in addition to the firm’s operations in Ethiopia, its team on the ground in Saudi Arabia had made “significant progress” in adding value to the company's assets this year, completing around 30,000 metres of drilling along with a range of tasks within the preliminary feasibility study.

“An updated mineral resource estimate for our Hawiah Copper-Gold Project remains on track to be reported later this month.”

At 1522 GMT, shares in KEFI Gold and Copper were up 18.96% at 1.03p.