Cyprus-based KEFI Gold and Copper has been awarded two of the three essential exploration licences covering the Jibal Qutman gold project located in Saudi Arabia.
The company secured the licences through its 30% owned joint venture with Abdul Rahman Saad Al Rashid and Sons (ARTAR), dubbed Gold and Minerals (G&M).
The two exploration licences, dubbed Jibal Qutman North and Jibal Qutman Southeast, were issued for an initial period of five years and cover a total of 174km² area.
Granting of the third, ultimate Jibal Qutman Exploration Licence, which covers an additional 99km² area and is currently under renewal, is expected in a few weeks.
Once issued, the three contiguous licences, collectively defined as JQ EL, are expected to cover a total area of more than 270km².
KEFI executive chairman Harry Anagnostaras-Adams said: “The regulatory processes in Saudi Arabia continue to facilitate fast-tracking development of the Jibal Qutman Gold Project for its construction to commence mid-2023 and first gold at the end of 2024.
“Our team at G&M has mobilised in anticipation that the third of our three Jibal Qutman licence applications will be issued within weeks.
“As a 2 million tonnes per annum open pit/CIL gold project, Jibal Qutman is similar to Tulu Kapi in Ethiopia. The estimated KEFI beneficial interest in the combined EBITDA of the Tulu Kapi Gold Project is £52m per annum ($60m per annum) from 2025.”
The Jibal Qutman licences are situated on the highly prospective Nabitah-Tathlith fault zone and offer additional exploration upside beyond the JORC gold resource of 733,000oz.
According to the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), the project development focuses on the initial production of around 500,000oz of gold over 10 years.
The initial, Preliminary Feasibility Study for the project targeted production of around 200,000 oz gold, modelled on a gold price of $1,200/oz.
KEFI is planning to commence the field development works for the DFS in October this year after the third exploration licence is awarded.
The field development works include confirmation drilling, environmental baseline studies, and geotechnical and metallurgical drilling.
Furthermore, the company intends to resubmit a subsequent Mining Licence Application (MLA) for the project in early 2023.
