IAMGOLD signed a definitive agreement with Merrex Gold to acquire, in an all-share transaction, all the shares of Merrex not already owned by IAMGOLD. Merrex is a junior mineral exploration company of which IAMGOLD currently owns approximately 23% of Merrex’s 199.2 million shares.
“This agreement consolidates the ownership of a key asset in IAMGOLD’s exploration pipeline,” said Steve Letwin, IAMGOLD’s president and 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 the ore body.”
Indicated resources for the Diakha-Siribaya project are 2.1 million metric tons (mt) grading 1.9 g/mt gold for 129,000 oz and inferred resources of 19.8 million mt grading 1.71 g/mt gold for 1.1 million oz. IAMGOLD began mining in Mali nearly 25 years ago at the Sadiola project, which, along with its neighboring Yatela mine, has already produced more than 7.5 million oz of gold.
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 km2 within an approximately 4,100 km2 area of interest in the southern portion of the West Mali Gold Belt.
