All monetary amounts are expressed in U.S.
dollars, unless otherwise indicated.
TORONTO, Feb. 28, 2017 /CNW/ - IAMGOLD
Corporation ("IAMGOLD" or the "Company") today reports that the
Company has completed its previously announced acquisition (the
"Transaction") of all of the issued and outstanding common shares
of Merrex Gold Inc. ("Merrex") not already owned by IAMGOLD and all
of the outstanding common share purchase warrants of Merrex by way
of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business
Corporations Act (British
Columbia). As a result of the Transaction, Merrex is now a
wholly-owned subsidiary of IAMGOLD.
"With the acquisition of Merrex, we now own 100% of the
Siribaya-Diakha project in Mali
and its gold resource, which is estimated to be in excess of one
million ounces as reported in our annual reserve and resource news
release of February 22, 2017," said
President and CEO of IAMGOLD Steve Letwin. "This transaction
consummates eight years of excellent work and partnership with the
Merrex team that led to the discovery of the Diakha deposit.
This project, along with the ongoing exploration and
evaluation of our nearby Boto Gold
project in Senegal, gives us a
significant footprint from which to advance our 2017 goal to expand
our current resources in this prolific region of West Africa."
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.
IAMGOLD is incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations
Act and its head office is located at 401 Bay Street, Suite
3200, PO Box 153, Toronto,
Ontario, M5H 2Y4.
About Merrex
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 head
office of Merrex is currently located at 802 - 1550 Bedford
Highway. Halifax, NS, B4A 1E6 and
is expected to be moved to 401 Bay Street, Suite 3200, PO Box 153,
Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2Y4.
Additional Information
In connection with the
Transaction, IAMGOLD issued an aggregate of approximately 6.9
million common shares, amounting to 1.5% of its issued and
outstanding shares immediately prior to completion of the
Transaction. The IAMGOLD shares were issued on the basis of 0.0433
of an IAMGOLD common share for each Merrex common share not already
owned by IAMGOLD and 0.0043 of an IAMGOLD common share for each
Merrex warrant. Immediately prior to the completion of the
Transaction, IAMGOLD owned approximately 45.8 million common shares
of Merrex, which represented approximately 23% of Merrex's issued
and outstanding common shares. It is expected that the Merrex
shares will be de-listed from the TSX Venture Exchange and that
Merrex will make an application to cease to be a reporting issuer
in the applicable jurisdictions. In connection with the
Transaction, IAMGOLD will file a report on its profile on SEDAR
(www.sedar.com) pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 – The
Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider
Reporting Issues containing additional information respecting
the foregoing matters. A copy of such report may be obtained by
contacting Bob Tait, VP Investor
Relations at IAMGOLD at (416) 360-4743.
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
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 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.
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