KEFI Gold and Copper Plc
KEFI Gold and Copper Plc is developing the Tulu Kapi open-pit gold project in Ethiopia (Ethiopian government holds a 5% free-carried interest under a 20-year mining license granted Apr 2015). The company completed a US$340 million development financing package for Tulu Kapi -- including ~US$240 million of senior project debt approved by the lending syndicate and a US$20 million equity-ranking royalty with Chancery Royalty Limited -- with the project formally and fully launched on 22 Dec 2025 following financial close. Phase 1 resettlement compensation agreements are 100% complete and over 50% of major equipment is ordered or ready for order; project debt drawdown is on track for a Q4 2026 trigger. As of the Aug 2026 update, commissioning is targeted for late 2027 with full production from the open pit and process plant in mid-2028. At a base case of US$4,000/oz gold, the project is modelled to deliver a combined AISC of US$1,184/oz and average EBITDA of ~US$526 million per annum over its first three years, with net cash flows intended to fund a second, underground project at the same site. KEFI raised a further GBP35.6 million in Apr 2026 to complete financing and add cost-overrun reserves. Harry Anagnostaras-Adams is Executive Chairman; John Leach is Finance Director; Eddy Solbrandt is Chief Operating Officer.
Notable vs. Peers
- Jurisdiction risk score of 4/10 is meaningfully riskier than the peer average of 7.8/10.
- All-in sustaining cost of $1,184/oz is 35% lower than the peer producer average of $1,813/oz.
- Trading within 7% of its 52-week low — weak recent price momentum.
Lifecycle Milestones
Construction Milestones
2 of 5 reached- Apr 2015 · Source
- Dec 2025 · Source
- Not yet reached
- Not yet reachedExpected Late 2027 – Mid 2028 · Prior guidance (commissioning late 2027, full production mid-2028) is suspended pending resolution of the Sep 2026 security incident -- no resumption date has been announced, so this window should be read as stale, not a live target. · Source
- Not yet reached
Milestones are recorded only from a company's own dated disclosure. A milestone with no date shown is one we can confirm was reached but for which no date was disclosed — we don't estimate one. "Not yet reached" means exactly that, not that a date is missing. An "Expected" line likewise only ever reflects the company's own guidance (e.g. a study or permit decision targeted for a stated quarter) — most not-yet-reached milestones have none, and that absence means no such guidance has been disclosed, not that one is overdue.
Not in place: mill, tailings facility, road access, grid power.
Jurisdiction (40%)4/10
Tulu Kapi, Ethiopia -- a jurisdiction with a 20-year mining license already granted and a government free-carried interest (5%), but materially higher country risk than African peers with longer continuous mining track records (financing/political/currency-repatriation overhead, reflected in the project's long multi-year path from license to construction financing).
Infrastructure (40%)0/10
No confirmed mill, no confirmed road access, no confirmed grid power, and no confirmed tailings facility at Tulu Kapi Gold Project.
Nearby producing mine (20%)Not yet researched
No producing mine within 50 km in our reference list (nearest listed: Kibali (Barrick Mining Corporation), 964 km). That list doesn't cover every mining district yet, so a longer distance isn't scored as remote.
Acquisition Susceptibility
A relative ranking of how closely this company matches the profile of juniors that have actually been acquired — not a probability, and not a reason to buy. Acquisitions are rare: only a few dozen significant deals happen a year across a universe of thousands of juniors, so even a high score here describes a long shot. The strongest signal in the research, a producer that already owns part of the company, is scored from its disclosed strategic shareholders. A producer that is a joint-venture or earn-in partner on the project, rather than a shareholder, isn't captured yet.
How this score is built
- Disclosed pending dealSub-score: Not scored
No pending acquisition or merger disclosed (checked)
Not scored: having no deal in flight isn't held against a company.
Weight 26.25% - Producer's strategic stakeSub-score: Not scored
No producer holds a disclosed stake on file (holder register researched) See holders
Not scored: most juniors that do get bought had no prior toehold, so a missing stake says little either way.
Weight 25% - Distance to a producing mineSub-score:0/10
Nearest producing mine: Kibali (Barrick Mining Corporation), 964 km
10 next to a producing mine, 8 at 20 km, 5 at 50 km, 0 beyond 200 km.
Weight 22.5% · 46% here - Lifecycle stageSub-score:7/10
Stage: Construction
Feasibility and permitting score 10, where deals cluster, and production 5.5; earlier stages score less, down to 1 at grassroots.
Weight 15% · 31% here - JurisdictionSub-score:4/10
Ethiopia: jurisdiction score 4/10
Our jurisdiction score, used as is: higher means lower political and permitting risk.
Weight 6.75% · 14% here - CommoditySub-score:10/10
Primary commodity: Gold
Gold 10, copper 8, silver 5, nickel and uranium 4, others 2: most majors' deals are for gold.
Weight 4.5% · 9% here
Weight is each input's share of the full score. “Here” is its share of this company's score: inputs that aren't scored are left out and the rest re-weighted, never counted as zero.
Your Rankings
Management Team
Executive Chairman of KEFI Gold and Copper Plc.
Finance Director of KEFI Gold and Copper Plc.
Chief Operating Officer of KEFI Gold and Copper Plc.
Insiders, Investors & Smart Money
Notable shareholders and insiders whose involvement is worth knowing about, plus what we're seeing from institutional/large-investor activity.
T. Rowe Price's holdings are generalist emerging-markets and international funds rather than resource specialists, and there has been no confirmed open-market insider purchase; the sole priced insider entry, at a round nominal price, is consistent with a share allotment rather than a market trade.
No notable insiders tracked for this miner yet.
Reports, Presentations & Documents
KEFI Gold and Copper is developing the Tulu Kapi open-pit gold project in Ethiopia's Oromia region, in which it estimates its shareholding at about 86%, with the Ethiopian government holding a 5% free-carried interest under a 20-year mining licence granted in April 2015. Indicated resources contain 1,620,000 oz of gold (18.8 Mt at 2.67 g/t), with no measured category, plus 100,000 oz inferred, and the probable reserve is 1.05 Moz of gold in 15.4 Mt at 2.12 g/t gold. The project was formally launched on 22 December 2025 after the close of a US$340M development financing package, including about US$240M of senior project debt and a US$20M royalty with Chancery Royalty, and project economics modelled at US$4,000/oz gold show an all-in sustaining cost of US$1,184/oz over the first three years. On 7 September 2026 KEFI suspended all development at Tulu Kapi after a security incident on 4 September in which security personnel, community members and a company employee were killed, and no date for resuming work has been announced. Earlier guidance for commissioning in late 2027 and full production in mid-2028 is on hold pending resolution of the situation.