Tulu Kapi Gold Mine In Ethiopia Gold Mining Project By KEFI Minerals

Tulu Kapi Gold Mine is situated 28km east of Ayra-Gulliso town in the state of Oromia, Ethiopia. Gold deposit in Tulu Kapi gold mines Ethiopia was discovered and mined on a small scale by an Italian consortium in the 1930’s. And in 2009 Nyota Minerals Limited acquired the licences Tulu Kapi gold mine and then undertook extensive exploration and drilling which culminated in December 2012.

Tulu Kapi gold mines in Ethiopia is now owned by KEFI Minerals, who bought 100% of the license held earlier by UK-based gold exploration and development company Nyota Minerals (Ethiopia) by 2014.

KEFI Minerals was formed on 24 October 2006 with a view to creating shareholder value through the discovery and exploitation of gold and copper deposits. The Company’s initial assets were EMED Mining’s exploration interests in Turkey and Bulgaria.

The Tulu Kapi - Ankore exploration license was granted to Minerva Resources in May 2005. Nyota Minerals had acquired the Tulu Kapi mining license by purchasing Minerva Resources in August 2009. Nyota Minerals further applied for the large scale mining license (LSML) at Tulu Kapi in May 2011.

Nyota Minerals launched the definitive feasibility study (DFS) of the mine in September 2011. Following the mine's sale, KEFI Minerals altered the mine plan and launched a refined definitive feasibility study (DFS).

The Tulu Kapi Mining Agreement between the Ethiopian Government and KEFI was formalised in April 2015. The terms include a 20-year Mining Licence, full permits for the development and operation of the Tulu Kapi gold project and a 5% Government free-carried interest.

In June 2015, KEFI Minerals completed the Tulu Kapi Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) evaluating a conventional open-pit mining operation and carbon-in leach (“CIL”) processing plant. 

The key DFS outcomes are: 

• Gold production of 961,000 ounces of gold over a 13-year mine life.
• Average All-in Sustaining Costs of US$779/ounce, which ranks the project in the lowest cost quartile globally for gold producers.
• Initial funding requirement of approximately US$130 million, based on the planned use of contract-mining and an all-new processing plant.

Following completion of the DFS and based on discussions with potential project contractors, KEFI announced in September 2015 an increase in planned production at Tulu Kapi to circa 100,000 ounces per annum over a 10-year period. This increase is a result of a planned increase in process plant capacity from 1.2Mtpa to 1.5Mtpa. KEFI also announced in September 2015 a potential reduction in the peak funding requirement to US$120 million from the US$130 million estimated in the 2015 DFS, despite the planned gold production increase.