All monetary amounts are expressed in U.S.
dollars, unless otherwise indicated.
TORONTO, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - IAMGOLD
Corporation ("IAMGOLD" or the "Company") today reports that the
Company has signed a definitive agreement with Merrex Gold Inc.
("Merrex") to acquire, in an all-share transaction, all of the
issued and outstanding shares of Merrex not already owned by
IAMGOLD (the "Transaction"). Merrex is a junior mineral exploration
company of which IAMGOLD currently owns approximately 45.8 million
or 23% of Merrex's issued and outstanding 199.2 million common
shares. IAMGOLD expects to issue 6.9 million shares,
amounting to less than 1.5% of its issued and outstanding shares,
in connection with the Transaction. The Transaction is expected to
close in the first quarter of 2017.
"This agreement consolidates the ownership of a key asset in
IAMGOLD's exploration pipeline," said Steve
Letwin, IAMGOLD's President & CEO. "The IAMGOLD
exploration team, led by Craig
MacDougall, working in concert with Merrex on the
Diakha-Siribaya project in Mali
has done an outstanding job over recent years to define indicated
resources of 2.1 million tonnes grading 1.90 g/t Au for 129,000
ounces and inferred resources of 19.8 million tonnes grading 1.71
g/t Au for 1.1 million ounces. Mali is a prolific mining friendly
jurisdiction and is where IAMGOLD began nearly 25 years ago at the
Sadiola project which, along with its neighbouring Yatela mine, has
already produced over 7.5 million ounces of gold."
The mineral resource estimate above, including verification of
the data disclosed, was filed in accordance with National
Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) requirements and CIM Estimation Best
Practice Guidelines. The report is dated January 25, 2016 and is available on SEDAR at
http://sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=24&issuerNo=00009025&issuerType=03&projectNo=02442203&docId=3875136.
The mineral resource estimate was also included in IAMGOLD's 2015
yearend reserve and resource news release dated February 17, 2016.
Merrex's primary assets are its gold properties in West Mali, principally its 50% interest in the
Siribaya Gold Project, its 100% held Karita exploration
authorization in Guinea and its
100% held zinc-lead property in Nova
Scotia (the Jubilee Project). Merrex holds permits totaling
approximately 700 square kilometers within an approximately 4,100
square kilometers area of interest in the southern portion of the
West Mali Gold Belt.
The Transaction will proceed by way of a court-approved plan of
arrangement under the Business Corporations Act
(British Columbia). The companies
expect to close the Transaction following required securityholder,
court and regulatory approvals and satisfaction of certain other
customary closing conditions.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON
FORWARD-LOOKING
INFORMATION
This news release contains forward-looking statements. All
statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities,
events or developments that the Company believes, expects or
anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without
limitation, statements regarding expected, estimated or planned
gold production, cash costs, margin expansion, capital expenditures
and exploration expenditures and statements regarding the
estimation of mineral resources, exploration results, potential
mineralization, potential mineral resources and mineral reserves)
are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
generally identifiable by use of the words "will", "should",
"would", "estimate", "believe", "suggest", "plan" or "project" or
the negative of these words or other variations on these words or
comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the
Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual
results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in
the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause
actual results or events to differ materially from current
expectations include, among other things, without limitation,
failure to obtain, or delays in obtaining, required approvals for
the Transaction, failure to meet expected, estimated or planned
gold production, cash costs, margin expansion, capital expenditures
and exploration expenditures and failure to establish estimated
mineral resources, the possibility that future exploration results
will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, changes in
world gold markets and other risks disclosed in IAMGOLD's most
recent Form 40-F/Annual Information Form on file with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian provincial
securities regulatory authorities. Any forward-looking statement
speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may
be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims
any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking
statement.
Qualified Person Information
The technical information relating to exploration activities
disclosed in this news release was prepared under the supervision
of, and reviewed and verified by, Craig
MacDougall, P.Geo., Senior Vice President, Exploration,
IAMGOLD. Mr. MacDougall is a Qualified Person as defined by
National Instrument 43-101.
About IAMGOLD
IAMGOLD (www.iamgold.com) is a mid-tier mining company with four
operating gold mines on three continents. A solid base of strategic
assets in North and South America
and West Africa is complemented by
development and exploration projects and continued assessment of
accretive acquisition opportunities. IAMGOLD is in a strong
financial position with extensive management and operational
expertise.
Please note:
This entire news release may be accessed via fax, e-mail,
IAMGOLD's website at www.iamgold.com and through CNW Group's
website at www.newswire.ca. All material information on IAMGOLD can
be found at www.sedar.com or at www.sec.gov.
Si vous désirez obtenir la version française de ce communiqué,
veuillez consulter le
http://www.iamgold.com/French/accueil/default.aspx.
SOURCE IAMGOLD Corporation