Exploration company KEFI Gold and Copper (KEFI) has signed a mining services contract worth more than $400m (€349.55m) with BCM Group for its Tulu Kapi Gold Project in Ethiopia.
Under the agreement, which covers a nine-year period, BCM will provide a range of mining services including the mining fleet, training and managing locally recruited operators.
It will also oversee full mining activities under the supervision of KEFI’s Ethiopian subsidiary, Tulu Kapi Gold Mines Share Company.
BCM Group CEO Paul Coe said: “BCM is a pioneering mining services group that expanded from Western Australia into West Africa more than 30 years ago.
“We are proud to support the development of Ethiopia’s mining sector alongside KEFI, particularly given our shared experience of successfully establishing mining projects in emerging jurisdictions including the Middle East.”
The contract was signed in London during the first Ethio-British Investment Forum, with Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gedion Timothewos Hessebon, in attendance.
Prior to this agreement, BCM had already mobilised in Ethiopia, supplying bulk earthworks and drilling services for the project.
The recently finalised deal enables BCM to proceed with ordering and deploying a Caterpillar mining fleet for full-scale operations at the site.
KEFI executive chairman Harry Anagnostaras-Adams said: “Today’s Ethio-British Investment Forum marks an important milestone in the development of Ethiopia’s private sector and international investment profile.
“Mining has already emerged as Ethiopia’s leading export-generating sector, yet the industry is only beginning to unlock its vast potential.”
The Tulu Kapi Gold Project has a probable ore reserve of 1.05 million ounces (moz) and mineral resources totalling 1.72moz of gold.
KEFI is developing the site in partnership with the Ethiopian Government, which formalised a mining agreement in April 2015.
Gold was first discovered and mined at Tulu Kapi on a small scale by an Italian consortium in the 1930s.
