Montage enters strategic partnership with Sanu Gold
Montage Gold Corp. [MAU-TSXV, MAUTF-OTCQX] said it has entered into a strategic partnership with Sanu Gold Corp. [SANU-CSE, SNGCF-OTCQB], a move that is driven by Sanu’s highly attractive exploration properties in Guinea, Montage said in a press release.
Montage said it has obtained a 19.9% interest in Sanu by issuing 2.3 million basic shares, an amount that equates to $5.5 million, joining existing strategic investor AngloGold Ashanti Plc. [AU-NYSE, ANG-JSE, AGG-ASX], which acquired a 14% stake in Sanu in September 2024.
Montage Gold shares eased 2.2% or $0.05 to $2.18 and trade in a 52-week range of $2.61 and 65 cents. Sanu was unchanged at $0.09.
Montage will be investing alongside the Lundin family and their associates who will obtain a 10% interest in Sanu by participating in a non-brokered private placement offering with an investment of $2.7 million. Through the offering, Sanu will obtain gross proceeds of approximately $10 million based on a share issue price of $0.072. Montage management and certain insiders also intend to participate in the offering. Also, Sanu has appointed Montage CEO Martino De Ciccio as its Non-Executive Chairman.
Sanu owns three exploration properties located in Guinea’s highly prospective Siguiri basin. They include the Daina property, which is contiguous to properties owned by AngloGold Ashanti along the same trend. Daina hosts a high-grade gold discovery which spans over 10 kilometres along strike.
The second is the Diguifara property, located near AngloGold Ashanti’s Siguiri gold mine and adjacent to tenements owned by Endeavour Mining Corp. (EDV-TSX-LSE, EDVMF-OTCQX,). It hosts an over 8.0-kilometre mineralized corridor.
The Bantabaye property, located in proximity to Nordgold’s [NORD-LSE] Lefa gold mine and Predictive Discovery’s Bankan gold project, hosts a large mineralized system with a highly attractive structural setting.
Sanu is currently undertaking a 10,000-metre drill program at its Diguifara and Daina properties, covering 120 holes where historical exploration resulted in the identification of a number of mineralized gold-bearing structures. Sanu expects to use the net proceeds of the offering to advance exploration, including geophysics and drilling on the Daina, Diguifara and Bantabaye permits and for general and administrative purposes. Sanu currently hods a 75% interest in each of the three properties. Subject to earn-in agreements, Sanu can increase its stake in each of the properties to 85%.
Montage is a Canadian precious metal exploration and development company with a focus on the Cote d’Ivoire. Kone is the company’s flagship property and is located in northwest Cote d’Ivoire. The project is estimated to host a probable reserve of 174.3 million tonnes of grade 0.72 g/t or 4.01 million ounces.
Back in January 16, 2024, the company released the results of an updated feasibility study at Kone, outlining a 16-year gold project, producing 3.57 million ounces of gold at an all-in-sustaining cost of US$998 per ounce over the life of the mine. Average production is forecast at 223,000 ounces, reaching a peak of 378,000 ounces.