Q&A with Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, Executive Chairman, KEFI Gold and Copper plc
Let’s start with a brief introduction to KEFI and its key projects.
KEFI was seeded in 2005 as a frontier markets explorer by Harry Anagnostaras-Adams and launched by his team from Australia. They concurrently launched Spain’s Atalaya Mining and Cyprus-based Venus Minerals. KEFI proceeded to test several countries before focusing on the Arabian Nubian Shield, first in Saudi Arabia from 2008 and then also in Ethiopia from 2014. The geological terrains we focus on have many analogies with Western Australia where we have extensive experience.
After our arrival, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia both developed into especially challenging working environments for our sector. And both transformed themselves for the better, with their turning points coinciding in 2022. KEFI contributed to the regulatory aspects of both countries’ transformations through consultation and collaboration. Some others tried to take advantage of the then disorder and others simply abandoned ship. KEFI simply persisted properly, and its strict code of conduct and tenacity is now being seen to be bearing fruit.
KEFI forged ahead and today sits as a leader in this region with mineral resources of 1.7Moz gold in the Tulu Kapi Gold Project in Ethiopia and 3.8Moz gold-equivalent in Saudi Arabia in the Jibal Qutman gold project and in the Hawiah Copper and Gold Project, all of which are expected to increase significantly.
Our project pipeline has Tulu Kapi now closing its project financing to launch full development for production late 2027, and the Saudi Projects following with their development in a separately funded company, Gold and Minerals.
Can you run us through the finance steps that have been completed for Tulu Kapi?
Finance steps completed:
- Approvals by the two co-lending banks
- Regulatory reforms which were required to accommodate the requirements of international project finance
- Satisfied the three critical conditions precedent outstanding in 2022 when the National State of Emergency was lifted and then the project syndicate decided that Tulu Kapi was approaching readiness for launch:
- Security arrangements of the highest-level of protection as a precautionary step
- Exemption from foreign exchange and capital controls
- And lastly, in May 2025 Ethiopian Parliamentary Legislative Ratification for our lender Africa Finance Corporation, to put it on the same footing as our other bank TDB
- 4. June 2025: Documents assembled for the circa US$400M of capex and US$600M opex inputs such as mining services, electricity, and fuel purchases
- 5. July 2025:
- Building initial site facilities
- Triggered first of four phases of community resettlement
- Funding package being refined around final funding requirements emerge as we formalise commitments to sign off August
How is the funding coming from BCM Group structured and how will it impact KEFI’s equity share?
This is being finalized now so that the mining contractor will defer payment for pre-production mining costs and will be paid out of operating cash flow with any equity participation not exceeding the issuance of a small percentage of KEFI shares at then (two years hence) market price upon successful completion of key stages.
How does KEFI handle the different government environments for its Ethiopian project at Tulu Kapi and its Saudi projects Jibal Qutman and Hawiah? What protections or agreements are in place to keep operations secure and stable in each country?
In Ethiopia we have:
- A bilateral agreement with the government for protection, such as, against changes in the fiscal regime
- The main levels of government as partners
- Government officers as board members
- Strong relationships which serve to protect both parties fairly, illustrated by the extent of regulatory reform and perhaps also by our chairman now representing Ethiopia as an honorary consul
- On the rare occasion required, we have successfully applied legal proceedings to protect our property rights
In Saudi Arabia we have:
- A leading family office as the majority partner
- Former government officers as board and team members
- On the rare occasion required, we have successfully applied legal proceedings to protect our property rights
In both jurisdictions we have seen many other parties try and take advantage of the pre-2022 malaise or simply walk away. We persisted and, we like to think, we made a contribution to the regulatory overhauls and take-offs over the past two years.
What further exploration could come from the local private sector investment proceeds or Ethiopian pipeline after Tulu Kapi’s development?
These are significant elements of our growth strategy and explains our enthusiasm to both expand our project pipeline and to align with local investors from both the public and private sectors.
Possibilities for expanded exploration and funding are being discussed for pursuit after we get Tulu Kapi into full development.
Could you elaborate on the expertise of KEFI’s management and board members, and how their experience has contributed to the company’s progress and current position?
KEFI has succeeded through 20 years of a collapsed junior mining market, civil wars, and regulatory overhauls. At the same time, it has preserved a project syndicate of government partners, major banks, leading contractors, and local investors. These are the key challenges and requirements for frontier markets, not the assembly of development and operational expertise from Australia and elsewhere, which we have obviously done and which we explain below.
The KEFI board comprises the founder and executive chairman, Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, and finance director, John Leach, who have overseen the successful start-up or turnaround of many natural resource projects including a gas field, mining and specialty processing of magnetite, zircon, alumina, and gold. Takeovers followed by successful corporate reconstructions include coal and copper.
The majority of parent company directors are non-executive and cover key skill sets including operational (Rich Robinson), social and environmental (Dr Alistair Clark) and host-country knowledge (Addis Alemeyahou).
Operating company boards include our executive chairman, our COO, Eddy Solbrandt, one of our non-executives, representatives of our in-country partners, and the CEO of the particular company.
The KEFI executive committee includes mine builders, organisation builders, technical due diligence experts and industry economics experts.
The operating committee includes the senior executive team for project management on the ground, some internationally experienced, and others local experts.
What are the key upcoming milestones that investors should look out for?
August 2025:
- Site progress with community and on the ground
- Final Tulu Kapi budget and schedule (done July), checked and incorporated into formal final syndicate documentation in August)
- Final finance plan terms and conditions for all components of equity risk capital and debt risk capital
- Signing definitive detailed documentation, first by contracting parties and then government and by the lenders last, before triggering equity drawdowns
October 2025:
- Full launch underway
