KEFI Minerals plc (LON:KEFI) has secured approval from local, zonal and regional authorities for the resettlement of local people at the Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia.
Preparatory activities for the resettlement will now turn to a community communication and consultation programme on the various aspects of the home and livelihood restoration plans down to the individual household level.
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The physical preparations will be launched as soon as the wet season ends shortly. The resettlement work teams will commence building roads into new host lands and the preparation of new host lands.
During this time the community will harvest its crops in Tulu Kapi, but new farmlands will be cleared to assist the community's re-establishment of livelihoods.
The Tulu Kapi gold project will be directly employing and training over 1,000 people by the end of 2019 if all goes according to plan, and is expected to generate significant indirect benefits to local and regional stakeholders for the long term.
Export revenues are likely to amount to approximately US$200mln per annum.
The plan is to start construction in early 2019 and commission production during the second half of 2020.
Project activities on the ground in the next month will include site surveys and geotechnical drilling of final foundation layouts for on-site infrastructure.
"In many ways, this is the most welcome recent development because it takes years to establish the sort of trust required for a smooth project launch when a country and region is going through such rapid change,” said KEFI managing director Harry Anagnostaras-Adams.
"KEFI and its partners in Tulu Kapi Gold Mines deeply appreciate the support of the community and of the authorities and are committed to maximising the local benefits of the project."