Business: Akobo Minerals appoints SpareBank 1 Markets AS for its Ethiopia based mining operations’ financial advisory

Addis Abeba – Akobo Minerals AB today announced that it has appointed the Norwegian investment bank, SpareBank 1 Markets AS, to advise on project financing for the Company’s boutique gold mining operation for the Segele deposit in Ethiopia.

In a statement sent to Addis Standard, Akobo Minerals said that as financial adviser, SpareBank 1 Markets AS will work closely with it “to explore relevant funding opportunities such as equity, bank debt and offtake agreements, along with other strategic options that are available to the Company in order to conduct and execute financing for the project.”

“The announcement of our partnership with SpareBank 1 Markets AS to seek new additional funding for the company is a major next step…”

CEO Jørgen Evjen

Construction of the small-scale plant project will commence as soon as financing is in place, with initial production start-up – and gold producing operations – expected before the end of 2022, the Scandinavian-based Ethiopian gold exploration and mining company said.
 
Jørgen Evjen, Akobo Minerals CEO, stated: “The announcement of our partnership with SpareBank 1 Markets AS to seek new additional funding for the company is a major next step in the development of our mining operation towards pouring of first gold by the end of the year.”

According to the CEO, Akobo Minerals’ exploration team has been successful in finding more gold at greater depths as its project has developed. “We have also secured long-term licenses and relationships with local and national authorities, as well as establishing a significant collaboration with Oromia Bank to develop new mining ventures in Ethiopia.”

“We are proud to have met all of our scheduled strategic milestones since the company went public on the Euronext Growth Oslo in June 2021, the latest of which was the laying of the foundation stone for our mine in early March 2022,”  Jørgen said.

On 02 March, Akobo Minerals announced that it has “intersected visible gold at 282 meters vertical depth, as well as seeing signs of further potential gold mineralization in several sections along this latest hole” in its exploration and boutique mine development in Segele, along the Akobo River in south-western Ethiopia, where, on 03 March, it laid the foundation stone. AS