Roxgold announced that it has signed an agreement with Newcrest West Africa to acquire a portfolio of 11 exploration permits in Côte d'Ivoire, including the Séguéla gold project, for total upfront consideration of US$20m.
Image: Roxgold to acquire 11 exploration permits in Côte d'Ivoire, including the Séguéla gold project. Photo: Courtesy of Roxgold Inc.
The transaction includes exploration permits covering 3,298km2 in the mining jurisdiction of Côte d’Ivoire with significant scope to build upon existing data and high-quality exploration work completed to date.
Séguéla project is located approximately 240Kms north-west of Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Côte d’Ivoire, and approximately 480Kms north-west of Abidjan, the commercial capital of the country.
The project has a near-term development potential and hosts Antenna deposit and a number of satellite opportunities. Located near existing infrastructure including grid power, transport and water resources, the Antenna gold deposit consists of near-surface, potentially open pittable mineralization.
Roxgold president and CEO John Dorward said: “Roxgold is excited to acquire Séguéla and the related permits from Newcrest. This acquisition represents a meaningful addition to our growth pipeline, providing a key second asset, immediate additional resource upside and a large prospective land package all in an accretive transaction for Roxgold shareholders.”
Roxgold said that it acquired the tenements from Newcrest for $20m and is also committing to a further payment of $10m in cash upon production of the first gold from any of the areas covered by the tenements.
To date, the tenements have seen approximately $21m of investment in exploration and completion of nearly 117,000m of drilling.
Roxgold exploration vice president Paul Weedon said: “This acquisition provides Roxgold with a very attractive exploration portfolio that includes highly prospective early stage opportunities as well as an advanced stage exploration asset in Séguéla.
“Acquiring these assets from Newcrest allows us to build upon the high quality exploration work they have completed to date. We are eager to get to work on this portfolio to fully explore the potential upside we see at these assets.”
The completion of the transaction is subject to the renewal of certain tenements and the approval from the Minister of Mines of Côte d’Ivoire and other required regulatory approvals.