VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 22,
2022 /CNW/ - 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").
HIGHLIGHTS
- Montage closes acquisition of Mankono
-
- With Mankono, consolidated Koné Gold Project ("KGP") now covers
2,258km2
- Drilling has started on Mankono properties
-
- 14 drill-ready targets; 25,000m
of drilling planned
- Two drill rigs mobilized to cover six initial target areas
- First assay results expected in December
- Transaction will expand the KGP
-
- High-grade reserves delineated following planned exploration
could significantly improve KGP
- KGP economic study will be revised following exploration
program
- High-Grade Gbongogo priority prospect to be drill
tested
-
- Initial Inferred Mineral Resource of 5.2Mt at 2.1g/t for
351,000oz at 1.2g/t cut off
-
- Open in all directions
- 30km trucking distance from Koné deposit
- RC drilling targeting strike extensions north and south
- Five additional district targets being drilled
-
- Initial RC drilling to be completed before year-end
- Target areas include several historic high-grade intercepts,
including:
-
- Koban North: 20m at 1.94g/t,
21m at 1.67g/t
- Lokolo Main: 20m at 2.19g/t
- Sena: 19m at 1.75g/t
- Sisséplé North anomalies improve with infill soil
program
-
- Two anomalies, each over 1km in strike length, averaging over
100ppb
- Montage welcomes new shareholders Barrick (9.7%) and
Endeavour (4.1%)
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 totalling
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."
* See "Conceptual
Exploration Target – Mankono" at the end of this
release.
|
DETAILS
District Consolidation
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. Mankono includes the Gbongogo Exploration
Permit (PR919, 400km2, issued Sept 2022), the Sisséplé Exploration Permit
(PR920, 106km2, issued Sept
2022) and the Sissédougou Exploration Permit (PR842,
387km2, issued July 2019).
The KGP now covers a strike length of over 75km on one of the most
prospective gold belts in West
Africa, connecting Syama to the north with the Séguéla
project in the south with over 23Moz of gold discovered to date
(Figure 2).
Montage's exploration objective is to identify high-grade
satellite deposits of +50-100koz grading +1.5g/t that can be
combined with the large-scale Koné deposit.
Historic exploration spending on the combined land package is
approximately US$20 million which has
defined over 60 strike-kilometres in soil anomalism and more than
20 targets through drilling and trenching in addition to
significant artisanal mining activity in multiple areas.
Montage has spent the last four months compiling all historic
work and has been on the ground for the last month in preparation
for the start of drilling.
Figure 1: Consolidated Land Position
Figure 2: Position within Broader District
Exploration Strategy
Montage will concentrate on district exploration for the next 12
months with the primary objective of adding multiple high-grade
satellite deposits to an expanded Koné Gold Project.
The top priority is the Gbongogo Prospect (Inferred Mineral
Resource of 5.2Mt at 2.1g/t for 351koz) which has delivered
intercepts of 135.2m at 2.63g/t from
1m, 92m
at 2.99g/t from 33m and 77m at 2.48g/t from 61m in previous drilling. Drilling will start in
the coming days targeting expansion and upgrade of this resource.
Details of the previous drill results described in Figure 3 and
Figure 4 are set out in Appendix 1.
In addition to Gbongogo, there are 13 other drill-ready targets
for Montage to test and numerous other areas with strong anomalism
on major structures that will receive follow-up work (see Figure
3).
Montage has developed an exploration plan that will include
25,000m of drilling across a total of
11 target areas over the next seven months.
Figure 3: Exploration Target Areas
Drilling Underway
At Gbongogo, an RC rig began drilling on November 21st, and will execute a
drill program designed to fully define the intrusive and targeting
extension to the northeast and south (Figure 4).
Gbongogo lies 30km north of Koné and hosts an Inferred Mineral
Resource of 5.2Mt grading 2.1g/t for 351koz at a 1.2g/t cut off.
Mineralization at Gbongogo is hosted within and on the margins of a
plunging quartz diorite plug with a surface expression of only
250m by 100m. High grades are controlled by two distinct
groups of quartz-tourmaline veins with scope to develop the grade
with systematic drilling.
Montage expects that Gbongogo can be upgraded and expanded
quickly with the initial program of RC drilling which will then be
followed by core drilling on the depth extensions in the New Year.
This drilling is expected to upgrade the current inferred resource
to the indicated category and provide samples for metallurgical
test work so that the prospect can be incorporated into future
engineering studies.
RC drilling will also target the area to the north-east where
the strong soil anomaly extends and previous work and current
artisanal mining shows the same alteration signature.
Figure 4: Drill plan and prospectivity at Gbongogo
A second RC rig arrived on site on November 3rd (Figure 5) and will focus
on first pass follow up on several district targets including Koban
North, Sena, Lokolo North, Lokolo Main and Lokolo West before the
Christmas break, as follows:
Figure 5: Drilling at Koban North, November 2023
Koban North
RC drilling targeting an area of mineralization across
200m width not previously followed up
to the north and south including 20m
at 1.94g/ and 21m at 1.67g/t.
Sena
RC drilling to follow up historic results from two Aircore holes
including 19m at 1.57g/t and
19m at 1.75g/t.
Lokolo Main
RC drilling to follow up historic result of 13m at 2.29g/t in an area of artisanal workings;
new workings identified nearby that are untested.
Lokolo North
RC drilling targeting a previously untested area of artisanal
workings hosted by an intrusive (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Drill plan at Lokolo North
New Discoveries Within KGP
Two new, coherent, +100ppb gold anomalies have been defined and
upgraded following three phases of soil sampling in the Sisséplé
North Permit. In Figure 7, TZ_2 shows +100ppb anomalism over 1.25km
strike and includes current artisanal mining areas. TZ_3 shows
+100ppb anomalism over two separate areas of 1.0km in strike. Both
anomalies will be targeted with aircore drilling in early 2023 to
further develop the targets.
Figure 7: New Sisséplé North Anomalies
Completion of Mankono
Acquisition
Pursuant to the share purchase agreement (the "Agreement")
signed by Montage with Barrick and Endeavour, Montage has acquired 100% of the
outstanding shares of MEL in exchange for total consideration (the
"Consideration") of C$30,000,000,
consisting of C$14,500,000 in cash
and 22,142,857 common shares of Montage (priced at C$0.70 per common share), plus a 2% NSR royalty
on Mankono. The Consideration has been split pro-rata on a 70/30
basis between Barrick and Endeavour.
In connection with the Transaction, Montage completed a
C$20.0M financing through the sale of
28,571,429 Subscription Receipts at a price of C$0.70 per Subscription Receipt (the "Offering").
Concurrent with the closing of the Transaction, the proceeds from
the Offering have been released from escrow and the Subscription
Receipts have been exchanged on a 1:1 basis for common shares of
Montage. Montage has received net proceeds of approximately
C$5.2M from the Offering, after
deducting all commissions, legal and TSXV fees associated with the
Offering, interest charges and the cash consideration paid to
Barrick and Endeavour. The
Offering was led by Stifel GMP, as lead underwriter, on behalf of a
syndicate of underwriters including Beacon Securities Limited, BMO
Capital Markets, and Raymond James Ltd.
Montage currently has 160,504,290 issued and outstanding common
shares, 4,800,000 stock options outstanding and a cash balance of
approximately C$8.2M.
ABOUT MONTAGE GOLD CORP.
Montage is a Canadian-based precious metals exploration and
development company focused on opportunities in Côte d'Ivoire. The
Company's flagship property is the Koné Gold Project, located in
northwest Côte d'Ivoire, covering a total area of
2,258km2 and which currently hosts a Probable Mineral
Reserve of 161.1Mt grading 0.66g/t for 3.42M ounces of gold. The Company released the
results of a DFS on the Koné Gold Project on February 14, 2022, outlining a 15-year gold
project producing an estimated 3.06M
ounces of gold over life of mine, with average annual production of
207koz, and estimated peak production of 320koz. The project also
contains an Inferred Mineral Resource of 5.2Mt at 2.1g/t for
351,000oz at 1.2g/t cut off at the Gbongogo Prospect located 30km
north of the Koné deposit. Montage is executing an exploration
program in 2022/23 with the objective of discovering multiple
high-grade satellite deposits to supplement the Probable Reserves
at the Koné Gold Project. Montage has a management team and Board
with significant experience in discovering and developing gold
deposits in Africa.
CONCEPTUAL EXPLORATION TARGET –
MANKONO
The potential quantity and grade are presently conceptual in
nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define such
a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will
result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. The
potential quantity and grade were developed based on a review of
available historic data, grade, intersected widths, and possible
strike extent at the various prospects and the overall
prospectivity of the land package.
TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE – GBONGOGO
The Mineral Resource Estimate for Gbongogo has an effective date
of Aprill 22, 2022, and was carried out by Mr. Jonathon Abbott of MPR Geological Consultants of
Perth, Western Australia who is considered to be
independent of Montage Gold. Mr. Abbott is a member in good
standing of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and has
sufficient experience which is relevant to the commodity, style of
mineralization under consideration and activity which he is
undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under National
Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). Mr. Abbott consents to the
inclusion in this press release of the information, in the form and
context in which it appears. For details regarding data
verification, QA/QC, interpretations, details regarding drill
results and the assumptions, parameters and related matters with
respect to the Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate, please see the
press release titled "Montage Gold Corp. Announces Government
Approval of Mankono Exploration Permits and Provides Corporate
Updates" dated September 8, 2022 and
filed on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE – KONÉ GOLD
PROJECT
The Mineral Reserve Estimate for the Koné Gold Project has an
effective date of February 14, 2022
and was carried out by Ms. Joeline
McGrath of Carci Mining Consultants Ltd. who is considered
to be independent of Montage. Ms. McGrath is a member in good
standing of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and
has sufficient experience which is relevant to the work which she
is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under NI
43-101.
The Mineral Resource Estimates for the Koné Gold Project have an
effective date of August 12, 2021 and
were carried out by Mr. Jonathon
Abbott of MPR who is considered to be independent of Montage
Gold. Mr. Abbott is a member in good standing of the Australian
Institute of Geoscientists and has sufficient experience which is
relevant to the commodity, style of mineralization under
consideration and activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a
Qualified Person under NI 43-101.
For further details of the data verification undertaken,
exploration undertaken and associated QA/QC programs, and the
interpretation thereof, and the assumptions, parameters and methods
used to develop the Mineral Reserve Estimate and the Mineral
Resource Estimates for the Koné Gold Project, please see the
definitive feasibility study, entitled "Koné Gold Project, Côte
d'Ivoire Definitive Feasibility Study National Instrument 43-101
Technical Report" (the "DFS") and filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The DFS was prepared by Lycopodium Minerals Pty Ltd. and
incorporates the work of Lycopodium and Specialist Consultants,
including Mr. Abbott, under the supervision of Sandy Hunter, MAusIMM(CP), of Lycopodium, a
Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101 who is independent of
Montage. Readers are encouraged to read the DFS in its entirety,
including all qualifications, assumptions and exclusions that
relate to the details summarized in this news release. The DFS is
intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or
relied upon out of context.
TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE – NEW
DISCOVERIES WITHIN KGP
Samples used for the results described have been prepared and
analyzed by fire assay using a 50-gram charge at the Bureau Veritas
facility in Abidjan, Côte
d'Ivoire. Field duplicate samples are taken, and blanks and
standards are added to every batch submitted. QAQC has been
approved in line with industry standards and interpretations
reviewed the Qualified Person.
The technical contents of this press release have been approved
by Hugh Stuart, BSc, MSc, a
Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101. Mr. Stuart is the President
of the Company, a Chartered Geologist and a Fellow of the
Geological Society of London.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains certain forward-looking information
and forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian
securities legislation (collectively, "Forward-looking
Statements"). All statements, other than statements of historical
fact, constitute Forward-looking Statements. Words such as "will",
"intends", "proposed" and "expects" or similar expressions are
intended to identify Forward-looking Statements. Forward-looking
Statements in this press release include statements related to the
Company's resource properties and resource estimates, and the
Company's plans, focus and objectives, including its exploration
objectives and future exploration programs at Mankono and
districtwide at the KGP, expectations that the Gbongogo Inferred
Mineral Resource will become an Indicated Mineral Resource,
expectations that the KGP will be improved and that additional
higher grade resources will be added, the details regarding the
conceptual exploration targets for Mankono, and timing for an
updated technical report on the KGP. Forward-looking Statements
involve various risks and uncertainties and are based on certain
factors and assumptions, including, with respect to mineral
resource estimates, those set out in the DFS and those set out
under the heading "Mineral Resource Modeling and Estimation
Assumptions – Gbongogo" in the press release titled "Montage Gold
Corp. Announces Government Approval of Mankono Exploration Permits
and Provides Corporate Updates" dated September 8, 2022 and filed on the Company's
SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that such
statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from the Company's expectations include
uncertainties related to gold and other commodity prices, including
lower than expected future gold prices which could reduce the
economic returns on, or the viability of, a deposit, uncertainties
inherent in the exploration of mineral properties such as incorrect
resource estimates due to incorrect modelling or unforeseen
geological conditions, the impact and progression of the COVID-19
pandemic and other risk factors set forth in the Company's annual
information form under the heading "Risk Factors". The Company
undertakes no obligation to update or revise any Forward-looking
Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge
from time to time, and it is not possible for Montage to predict
all of them, or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent
to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results
to differ materially from those contained in any Forward-looking
Statement. Any Forward-looking Statements contained in this press
release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this
cautionary statement.
Appendix 1: Listing of Intercept Detail
Prospect
|
Hole
ID
|
Drill
Type
|
Collar Location
(UTM Zone 29N)
|
Orientation
|
Depth
|
From
(m)
|
To
(m)
|
Length
(m)
|
Au
g/t
|
mE
|
mN
|
mRL
|
Dip
|
Azim
|
Gbongogo
|
GBRC013
|
RC
|
769,232
|
993,461
|
360
|
-50
|
90
|
140
|
33
|
125
|
92
|
2.99
|
incl
|
61
|
77
|
16
|
10.00
|
GBDDH002
|
Core
|
769,270
|
993,420
|
360
|
-50
|
176
|
301.5
|
0
|
86.8
|
86.8
|
1.61
|
GBDDH004
|
Core
|
769,240
|
993,490
|
360
|
-50
|
143
|
200
|
61
|
138
|
77
|
2.48
|
incl
|
85.4
|
95.2
|
9.8
|
10.70
|
GBDDH005
|
Core
|
769,390
|
993,495
|
352
|
-53
|
154
|
131
|
13
|
58
|
45
|
1.07
|
GBDDH006
|
Core
|
769,296
|
993,598
|
359
|
-55
|
170
|
229.37
|
81
|
178.6
|
97.6
|
1.28
|
GBDDH007
|
Core
|
769,285
|
993,379
|
358
|
-50
|
342
|
200
|
1
|
136.2
|
135.2
|
2.63
|
incl
|
61.2
|
78.1
|
16.9
|
10.60
|
GBDDH009
|
Core
|
769,328
|
993,588
|
352
|
-50
|
140
|
200
|
86.65
|
142.4
|
55.75
|
1.81
|
GBDDH017
|
Core
|
769,235
|
993,854
|
349
|
-55
|
170
|
401
|
241
|
338
|
97
|
0.79
|
GBDDH019
|
Core
|
769,296
|
993,850
|
348
|
-55
|
171
|
389
|
271.9
|
362.8
|
90.9
|
0.77
|
GBDDH020
|
Core
|
769,336
|
993,427
|
353
|
-47
|
345
|
422
|
1.3
|
422
|
420.7
|
1.33
|
GBDDH022
|
Core
|
769,350
|
993,801
|
347
|
-55
|
175
|
315
|
221
|
288
|
67
|
0.64
|
GBTR003
|
Trench
|
769,256
|
993,461
|
360
|
0
|
130
|
140.5
|
10
|
113
|
103
|
1.29
|
GBTR007
|
Trench
|
769,320
|
993,469
|
357
|
0
|
170
|
94.7
|
0
|
91.5
|
91.5
|
1.54
|
GBTR012
|
Trench
|
769,191
|
993,340
|
360
|
0
|
170
|
96.5
|
25
|
85.5
|
60.5
|
0.53
|
GBTR014
|
Trench
|
769,235
|
993,422
|
369
|
0
|
140
|
130
|
12
|
113
|
101
|
1.93
|
GBTR017
|
Trench
|
769,209
|
993,331
|
360
|
0
|
130
|
90
|
8.65
|
57.4
|
48.75
|
1.93
|
Sissédougou
|
SISRC12_66
|
RC
|
782,595
|
1,014,425
|
400
|
-55
|
305
|
138
|
5
|
65
|
60
|
2.70
|
SISDD11_06
|
Core
|
782,617
|
1,014,518
|
400
|
-90
|
0
|
117.2
|
26.1
|
44.9
|
18.8
|
2.30
|
74.6
|
109.2
|
34.6
|
2.08
|
SISDD11_09
|
Core
|
782,633
|
1,014,263
|
400
|
-55
|
5
|
152.65
|
112.7
|
135.7
|
23
|
2.14
|
Kagon
|
SISRC17-152
|
RC
|
775,289
|
1,007,812
|
417
|
-50
|
65
|
120
|
90
|
100
|
10
|
1.68
|
Bafretou
South
|
BFSAC106
|
Aircore
|
759,652
|
971,203
|
391
|
-50
|
315
|
36
|
10
|
27
|
17
|
3.28
|
Sena
|
SENAC034
|
Aircore
|
769,885
|
997,842
|
378
|
-50
|
110
|
20
|
0
|
19
|
19
|
1.57
|
SENAC035
|
Aircore
|
769,896
|
997,838
|
378
|
-50
|
110
|
23
|
0
|
19
|
19
|
1.75
|
Koban
North
|
KOBNA013
|
Aircore
|
770,091
|
1,000,711
|
405
|
-50
|
105
|
53
|
17
|
37
|
20
|
1.94
|
KOBNA020
|
Aircore
|
770,249
|
1,000,665
|
410
|
-50
|
105
|
38
|
0
|
21
|
21
|
1.67
|
KOBNA015
|
Aircore
|
770,144
|
1,000,695
|
407
|
-50
|
105
|
46
|
12
|
22
|
10
|
1.80
|
Lokolo
South
|
LOKAC067
|
Aircore
|
775,356
|
987,021
|
369
|
-50
|
315
|
36
|
16
|
36
|
20
|
2.19
|
LOKAC078
|
Aircore
|
774,948
|
986,640
|
370
|
-50
|
315
|
35
|
2
|
4
|
2
|
32.20
|
Lokolo
Main
|
LOKRC012
|
RC
|
778,767
|
989,868
|
360
|
-50
|
315
|
100
|
65
|
71
|
6
|
2.16
|
LOKRC001
|
RC
|
778,584
|
989,766
|
368
|
-50
|
315
|
98
|
55
|
68
|
13
|
2.29
|
LOKRC010
|
RC
|
778,455
|
989,614
|
375
|
-50
|
315
|
108
|
13
|
24
|
11
|
1.28
|
LOKAC020
|
Aircore
|
779,614
|
990,405
|
372
|
-50
|
315
|
36
|
19
|
36
|
17
|
1.34
|
Lokolo
West
|
LOKRC003
|
RC
|
776,855
|
990,637
|
393
|
-50
|
315
|
80
|
43
|
49
|
6
|
21.70
|
Dokeka
|
DKAC024
|
Aircore
|
772,880
|
993,780
|
349
|
-50
|
315
|
27
|
14
|
27
|
13
|
26.80
|
Yeré
North
|
YERTR001
|
Trench
|
794,671
|
1,017,191
|
395
|
0
|
125
|
201.6
|
47
|
85.7
|
38.7
|
1.57
|
YERTR002
|
Trench
|
794,606
|
1,017,111
|
408
|
0
|
125
|
168
|
39.9
|
87
|
47.1
|
1.62
|
YERNRC002
|
RC
|
794,669
|
1,017,170
|
406
|
-49
|
110
|
121
|
17
|
25
|
8
|
4.56
|
Petit
Yao
|
MRPYRC030A
|
RC
|
764,904
|
964,703
|
355
|
-59
|
70
|
66
|
37
|
43
|
6
|
10.82
|
MRPYRC039
|
RC
|
764,894
|
964,758
|
356
|
-59
|
75
|
48
|
28
|
31
|
3
|
15.51
|
MRPYRC049
|
RC
|
765,037
|
964,627
|
352
|
-60
|
0
|
58
|
35
|
39
|
4
|
8.31
|
MRAC128
|
Aircore
|
764,949
|
964,751
|
356
|
-50
|
325
|
40
|
0
|
12
|
12
|
4.15
|
SOURCE Montage Gold Corp