Montage’s expanded KGP (Figure 1) forms a contiguous block of 1,800km2 of exploration permits and a further 458km2 of exploration permit applications, for a total of 2,258km2
Drilling at Koban North, November 2023. (Credit: Montage Gold Corp.)
Montage Gold Corp. (“Montage” or the “Company”) (TSXV: MAU) (OTCQX: MAUTF) is pleased to announce that it has closed the acquisition of a 100% indirect interest (the “Transaction”) in the Mankono Sissédougou Joint Venture Project (“Mankono”) from subsidiaries of Barrick Gold Corporation (“Barrick”) and Endeavour Mining plc (“Endeavour”).
Montage has acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Mankono Exploration Limited (a Jersey company) (“MEL”), which indirectly holds Mankono, for total consideration of C$30,000,000 comprised of C$14,500,000 in cash, 22,142,857 common shares of Montage, and the granting of a 2% NSR royalty. Closing of the Transaction follows the receipt by Mankono of the signed Presidential decrees granting it the Gbongogo Exploration Permit (“Gbongogo”) as well as the Sisséplé Exploration Permit (“Sisséplé”).
Rick Clark, Montage CEO commented, “We are very pleased to be closing the acquisition of Mankono and would like to acknowledge the efforts of Barrick and Endeavour in achieving this result and to sincerely thank the Government of Côte d’Ivoire for its support of this transaction.
With the addition of Mankono, our consolidated land position grows to more than 2,250km2 over one of the most prolific gold belts in West Africa at the centre of which is our Koné deposit. Drilling has started on our newly acquired ground looking to add higher grade resources to the Koné development plan. Based on our evaluation of the historic data from Mankono we believe that, in addition to the Inferred Mineral Resource at Gbongogo, the rest of the Mankono land package has the real potential for additional discoveries of 0.8Moz to 1.2Moz at similar grades (between 1.5-2.5g/t Au)*. We very much look forward to reporting on the progress of our aggressive exploration program, which is designed to maximize the potential of a strong economic mining operation centered on Koné.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our shareholders and our investors, who funded Montage in this transaction, for their patience and confidence in our team to execute what we expect will be a game changer for Montage into 2023.
Finally, we welcome the addition of Barrick and Endeavour as new shareholders and look forward to working with all our stakeholders in achieving our goals.”
Source: Company Press Release