Orezone completes Quebec gold mine purchase, tables Q4 results
Orezone Gold Corp. [ORE-TSX, ORZCF-OTCQX, ORE-ASX ] has completed the previously announced purchase of the Casa Berardi gold mine in Quebec form Hecla Mining Co. [HL-NYSE].
As part of the transaction’s closing terms, Hecla received $160 million in cash and approximately 65.8 million common shares of Orezone, while retaining the right to receive up to an additional $321 million in deferred and contingent cash payments.
Hecla Mining is the largest silver producer in the United States and Canada. In addition to operating mines in Alaska and Idaho, the company is ramping up a mine in the Yukon and owns a number of exploration and pre-development projects in world-class silver and gold mining districts throughout North America.
Orezone shares were largely unchanged on the news, rising 0.45% or $0.01 to $2.22. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $2.98 and 75 cents.
Meanwhile, in addition to closing the Casa Berardi purchase, Orezone has reported its operational and financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2025 as well as guidance for 2026.
Orezone Gold is an emerging intermediate gold producer with operations in Canada and West Africa. The newly acquired Casa Berardi mine in Quebec has produced over 3.2 million ounces of gold to date. The company’s Bombore mine in West Africa is expected to produce between 160,000 and 180,000 ounces this year, an increase of between 45% and 64% compared to 2025 production levels. The higher gold production is attributable to a full year of hard rock operations with gold production weighted towards the second half of 2026 from expected improvements in hard rock head grades and plant throughput.
Orezone’s 2026 production guidance excludes any figures from the acquisition of the Casa Berardi mine. The company said it intends to update its guidance in the second quarter of 2026 to incorporate planned production, costs and capital expenditures for Casa Berardi in the 2026 post-acquisition period.
“2025 marked another important year for Orezone as hard rock expansion at our Bombore mine was successfully commissioned leading to the achievement of commercial production shortly after year-end,’’ said Orezone President and CEO Patrick Downey. “The expanded Bombore mine will result in a significant increase in gold production in 2026 from the processing of hard rock reserves, which is expected to contribute to strong free cash flow and mine earnings.’’
The company reported fourth quarter production of 30,407 ounces of gold, with 2,687 ounces attributable to hard rock production. The all-in-sustaining cost in the fourth quarter was US$1,942 an ounce.
Bombore is situated 85 kilometres east of the capital city of Ouagadougou and is accessible via a paved international highway.
The project hosts a large oxide resource underlain by a larger, open sulphide resource, and the plan has been to develop the site in two stages to reduce project costs. Bombore achieved the first gold pour scheduled for the third quarter of 2022.