Could you briefly introduce yourself to our international audience?

I was at Endeavor Mining for 10 years, where I was an integral part of the team building the company into a top ten global producer. We did that by building two mines, both on time and on budget. Before that, I was with La Mancha. 

I am very excited about the deep bench strength of experienced talent and drive at Montage. Much of our senior management joined from Endeavour Mining and were with me for the last 10 years. In the last six months, our team has made significant progress towards our goal of building Montage into a premier gold producer, with the flagship Koné project at the forefront, including securing all necessary mining and environmental permits for the project and bringing in further support from strategic investors such as the Lundin Family and Zijin Mining.

Could you comment on the key highlights of your updated DFS (Jan 2024)?

The objective of the updated feasibility study was to optimize the economics of the Koné project by incorporating higher-grade tonnes from the Gbongogo Main deposit. By incorporating these, we not only de-risked the project but also demonstrated the impact of discovering higher-grade satellite deposits within the property package. We have a large land package with 35 satellite targets to explore. 

Ultimately the DFS underpinned the strong economics and overall excellent potential of the project. We have 4 million oz of probable reserves with lots of room to grow, a production scale of over 300,000 oz/y in the first 8 years of the life of mine, and a low AISC of US$998/oz over a total mine life of 16 years. 

Could you walk us through Montage Gold’s most recent financial developments and how they position Montage Gold for the next steps?

We recently closed an upsized US$180 million brokered private placement, where we welcomed Zijin as a major shareholder. The Lundin Family also increased their stake in Montage Gold. The investments strengthen our ability to deliver on our strategy to become a premier multi-asset producer. 

How do you think such exploration success encourages other investors looking at Côte d’Ivoire?

Côte d’Ivoire is a safe and easy place to work, which I say with first-hand experience from over 15 works of working in the country. West Africa is a top region for discoveries globally, with low capital intensity and many attractive features. Importantly, Côte d’Ivoire has a very mining-supportive government. 

I believe the success of Koné and Montage is the success of Côte d’Ivoire and will provide tremendous benefits and further attract development. 

What will be the focus of your exploration efforts and upcoming drilling campaigns moving forward? 

We are looking to replicate the success of Gbongogo Main and to increase reserves, production and cash flow at a relatively low cost to define the ore body. 

We have 35 identified targets, 15 of which are being drilled. We are also doing additional reconnaissance to identify more targets. As of June 30, 2024, a total of 21,175 m had been drilled with preliminary results returning high-grade intercepts across several targets. A second 60,000 m drill programme has already commenced with the goal of delineating resources at top priority targets.

Do you think Africa and particularly Ivory Coast maintain a cost advantage compared to other jurisdictions?

West Africa has seen the successful development of many resource projects, including the building of new mines, both on time and on budget. This is as a result of several factors: good infrastructure, the availability of skilled labour and strong governmental and local support. 

At Montage, we are particularly focused on ensuring our production costs remain low by discovering and adding higher-grade resources to our plan made possible by the excellent exploration potential in-country.

What are the next milestones we should keep an eye out for? 

We have accomplished so much since the arrival of the new team in Februaury 2024; receipt of mining permits, agreement on land compensation completed, a $180M upsized private placement closed, and satellite targets currently being drilled. 

As Montage continues to advance, we look forward to unlocking value for shareholders by completing our project financing, launching construction, and delineating higher grade satellite depoists.