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ADU ReVIeW

New licensing system for Kenya

he Kenyan Government is banking on a assets in Kenya – with the cadastre becom-
Tnew cadastral system to reinvigorate ex- ing a one-stop-shop for licensing and geo-
ploration in the country. logical information.
The East African country has seen only Kenya’s only commercial-scale miner,
negligible exploration in the last seven years Base Resources Ltd, is an Australian-list-
after it placed a moratorium on new and re- ed company, operating the Kwale mineral
newed licences in 2015 amid criticism about sands mine near Mombasa and Kamau
a lack of transparency in the cadastral sys- hopes Australians will be among the first ex-
tem. plorers to take advantage of the new system.
With the lifting of the moratorium earlier “We need people to have a look at the
this year in combination with a new cadastral data and acquire ground,” he said. “Austral-
system, Kenya is ready to welcome interna- ians appear to have a frontier mindset suited
tional miners and explorers once again, ac- to that.”
cording to principal secretary for the Ministry Kamau also implored companies to list
of Peroleum and Mining, Andrew Kamau. on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, which
“When it comes to mining, Kenya is a fron- already has a MoU with the London Stock
tier country with only 40% of the country ex- Exchange over dual listing and Kamau is ea-
plored,” Kamau said at Africa Down Under. Andrew Kamau ger to see that replicated in Australia.
“Because it is a frontier country, access to “We needed a transparent system,” he Kenya also has a deep investment pool
geological data is crucial. We will have re- said. “We had people holding acreage from but Kamau admitted local shareholders
sults of a recently flown airborne survey by the 1940s and 1950s and we weren’t sure knew little about the resources sector.
the end of this year and hope after the cam- what they were doing. So, we had to clean “We would like people to list at least 10%
paign we will have it posted on the new ca- up the cadastre so we could allow new min- of the company in-country,” he said. “But we
dastre currently being developed.” ing companies to come in and explore new need to educate the investor in Kenya about
Kamau said a restructuring of the cadas- minerals.” mining investment.”
tre was vital given the disrepute it had fallen The entire system will soon be digitised –
into. in keeping with a similar move across all land

Perseus sets off to Sudan

record operational and financial year A 2020 feasibility study suggested Block
A and a new project in an untapped loca- 14, 70km from the Egyptian border, could
tion; much has changed for Perseus Mining produce 228,000 ozpa for the first seven
Ltd in the two years since it last appeared at years and 167,000 ozpa over the 14-year
Africa Down Under. mine life.
Managing director Jeff Quartermaine “There is tremendous potential to in-
brought the Perseus story back to the Af- crease the inventory and extend the mine
rica Down Under stage on the same day life,” Quartermaine said. “We will start to Jeff Quartermaine
the company announced record financials, work on drilling that deposit out and begin western mining companies for many years
including revenue of $1.126 million (up 66%), FEED work with Lycopodium.” but this is changing. There are people from
EBITDA of $564.1 million (up 86%) and prof- A final investment decision on the project a number of nationalities there but not at the
it after tax of $279.9 million (up 101%). is expected in the second half of 2023 with scale we are intending.”
The records were generated by Perseus’s a 24-month construction period scheduled Success for Perseus and the Sudanese
triumvirate of gold mines in West Africa but to follow. Government’s efforts to attract international
instead of focusing on them, Quartermaine Sudan is one of Africa’s largest gold pro- investment could lead to others joining the
used his presentation to showcase the com- ducers despite having no large-scale min- ASX-listed gold miner.
pany’s next growth option. ing sector. Perseus sees the Block 14 ac- “If we are successful, there will be a
In February, the company acquired Orca quisition as part of a wider opportunity in the steady stream of others coming,” Quarter-
Gold and its Block 14 gold project in north- country. maine said. “Sudan is open to international
ern Sudan in a $C215 million deal. Quarter- “By coming now, we hope to experience investment and ready to receive people will-
maine said the project – reserves of 79.9mt first mover advantage, learn how to operate ing to operate in the country. We have been
@ 1.11 g/t for 2.85 moz gold with a further and extend our investment to other mining pleasantly surprised by the capacity in the
3.34 moz in resources – would be an impor- opportunities,” Quartermaine said. “Sudan country and believe we can purchase a lot
tant addition to the Perseus portfolio. is a very highly prospective, underexplored, of the goods and services we need in coun-
“This will be our fourth operation and by attractive and prolific mineral province. It is try. We try to employ as many local people
coming to another country, it provides us one of the largest gold producers in Africa, as possible. This is an outstanding location
with a spread of risk across the African con- albeit a lot of that gold is produced by the for our next large-scale project.”
tinent to deal with the ups and downs,” he informal sector.
said. “Sudan has been largely overlooked by – Dominic Piper

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