Giant Côte d'Ivoire Gold Mine Ready to Go

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Development of the leading gold mining prospect in the West African nation of Côte d'Ivoire has been secured with an US$825 million financing package from Canada's Montage Gold Corporation (Vancouver, Canada).

The Koné project is located roughly 350 kilometers northwest of Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Côte d'Ivoire. It is Montage's flagship project, which it said is set to become West-Africa's "next sizable, long-life, low production-cost gold mine". The Koné project, which is centered around three pits - North, South and Gbongogo Main - has an estimated 16-year mine life and an annual production of more than 300,000 ounces (oz) of gold over the first eight years. Production will start in early 2027. Gold now stands as the second-largest industry in Cote d'Ivoire after cocoa, where the country stands as the world's largest exporter. It is hoping to emulate the historical success in gold mining seen by its neighbors Burkina Faso and Ghana. In September, Industrial Info reported that Ghana was set to launch "monster mines" to help boost a long-term slump in gold production. Although it is Africa's leading gold producer, the country is set to commission the Cardinal Namdini mine in November, Ghana's first large-scale greenfield mine in more than a decade. For additional information, see September 12, 2024, article - Ghana Launching 'Monster' Gold Mines.

The bulk of this last round of financing was supplied by leading precious metals investor Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) (Vancouver, Canada) and China's Zijin Mining Group (Longyan, China). Wheaton will pay Montage a total upfront cash consideration of US$625 million in four equal installment payments during construction. For that it will acquire 19.5% of payable gold production from the Koné mine, until 400,000 oz delivery, after which it will reduce the purchased amount to 10.8% (130,000 oz) and then to 5.4% for the mine's life. Zijin Mining, which took a 10% stake in Montage in July, is providing US$125 million in funding, comprising a US$50 million loan facility with a nine year tenure and a US$75 million fully redeemable subordinated gold stream.

Martino De Ciccio, chief executive officer of Montage, commented: "Today's announced US$825 million funding package for the construction of our flagship Koné project in Côte d'Ivoire provides significant funding headroom, ahead of launching our construction, as it increases our liquidity sources to approximately US$970 million. Moreover, it is the culmination of an exhaustive financing process which generated strong interest given the high-quality nature of our project. We look forward to soon launching the construction of our Koné project, which is set to become West-Africa's next sizable, longlife, low production-cost gold mine, and poised to unlock value for all stakeholders."

Randy Smallwood, president and chief executive officer of Wheaton Precious Metals Corporation added: "With essential permits in place coupled with its impressive scale, we believe the Koné Project stands out as one of the premier gold assets in Africa and we are very pleased to partner with Montage to deliver a full financing package for its development."

The Kone project will employ conventional open-pit mining methods, based around a truck and shovel fleet. The project will focus on high cut-off grade in the first nine years, prioritizing ore processing with a gold grade above 0.5 grams per tonne. Ore below the grade but above the economic cut-off will be stockpiled or used as supplementary feed, with processing to be carried out over an additional six years.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).