LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Gold exploration and development company KEFI Minerals updated the market on its Tulu Kapi Gold Project in Ethiopia on Tuesday, confirming the receipt of all government permits and independent consultants reports required for closing the project equity financing and triggering the development of the project by the Tulu Kapi Gold Mines Share Company (TKGM).
The AIM-traded firm said the only outstanding matter now was for the Ethiopian government to resolve certain internal administrative matters.

It said it had also received reconfirmation from its partners, and TKGM from its contractors, of their respective commitments to proceed as soon as the government has resolved its internal administrative arrangements "in a manner which does not impede other shareholders' protections".

The company said it understood that meetings were taking place daily within the Ethiopian government to resolve those internal matters, which it said pertained to how it managed its shareholding in the TKGM public-private partnership.

As it had previously reported, KEFI said the budget for the project investment had already been approved by the Ethiopian Parliament, and the associated infrastructure work for which it paid had already started.

TKGM had the potential to be the largest single export-generator for Ethiopia, the company noted.

It said the Minister for Mines and Petroleum of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr Samuel Urkato, had confirmed to KEFI that the government was "keen to proceed".

"Whilst it is disappointing we will not be able to close the Project equity funding before the end of October 2019, as we had previously envisaged, we appreciate the enormous importance of the project to the Ethiopian government and that they need to complete their internal processes," said executive chairman Harry Anagnostaras-Adams.

"All stakeholders continue to work very hard and we look forward to this being resolved shortly so that the project equity funding can be closed and development of the project started."

As at 1401 GMT, shares in KEFI Minerals were up 4.33% at 0.74p.

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