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LONDON (Alliance News) - KEFI Minerals PLC on Monday unveiled an updated mineral resource report on its Tulu Kapi gold deposit in Ethiopia, as its partner on the project, Nyota Minerals Ltd, prepares for a shareholder vote on selling its stake in the operator of the project.
KEFI Minerals said a mineral resource of 1.9 million ounces of gold has been estimated following twelve months of drilling on the site.
The indicated resource for the site is now 1.5 million ounces and will be used to finalise pit design, mining scheduling and ore reserves.
KEFI also said the overhaul of the Tulu Kapi project is well underway and said the modifications made to the indicated resource will help to increase profitability of the project by allowing the firm to optimise mine design and mining plans in order to cut capital requirements by downsizing the plant from 2 million tonnes per year to 1.2 million and reducing the mining fleet accordingly.
Nyota, which owns a 25% stake in KEFI Minerals (Ethiopia), which owns a 100% stake in the Tulu Kapi project, will hold a shareholder meeting on September 3 for approval of the sale of the stake.
In June, Nyota, which originally was the sole owner of the Tulu Kapi project, entered a deal with KEFI Minerals to sell its remain stake in the project for GBP1.5 million in cash and shares, after failing to fund its cash calls for the site.
Nyota, which additionally holds a 10.3% stake in KEFI itself, said Monday it will distribute these KEFI shares to Nyota shareholders via a capital reduction.
KEFI Minerals shares were down 0.6% to 1.66 pence on Monday, while Nyota shares jumped 25% to 0.30 pence, putting it second from the top of the AIM All-Share index.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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