NR - IMG buys into MXI's Gold propertyFull details now being released by MXI and IMG....this is so good for the shareholders of MXI. Surely an easy double right away with huge upside as the $10MM gets spent on drilling...C.Gert
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Iamgold options 50% of Siribaya from Merrex Gold
2008-12-23 08:36 ET - News Release
Mr. Joseph Conway reports
IAMGOLD OPTIONS MERREX GOLD'S SIRIBAYA GOLD PROJECT IN MALI AND CONFIRMS EQUITY POSITION IN MERREX GOLD
Iamgold Corp. has entered into a definitive option agreement to earn a 50-per-cent interest in the Siribaya gold project in Mali, West Africa, which is 100 per cent controlled by Merrex Gold Inc. Iamgold can earn its interest by spending $10.5-million over four years. As part of the agreement, Iamgold completed a private placement of $1.5-million in Merrex by subscribing for 4,285,714 units at 35 cents per unit. Each unit comprises one common share of Merrex and one 12-month warrant, exerciseable at 45 cents per share.
As a result, Iamgold holds 4,285,714 common shares of Merrex, representing approximately 6.47 per cent of the outstanding common shares of Merrex. If Iamgold were to exercise all warrants of Merrex, Iamgold would control a total of 8,571,426 common shares of Merrex, or 12.15 per cent of the resulting outstanding common shares (on a partially diluted basis).
Other than as agreed to in consideration for the Siribaya agreement, Iamgold does not have any present intention to acquire ownership of, or control over, additional securities of Merrex.
The Siribaya gold project consists of a 700-square-kilometre land package in western Mali that covers two major regional structural trends that hold significant potential for economic gold mineralization. Merrex has spent over $8-million to date on exploration at Siribaya and has reported significant gold intersections along a two-kilometre segment of an anomalous gold trend that extends for more than six kilometres within the land package. In addition, higher-grade gold drill intersections from a breccia-hosted sulphide-gold zone are also a priority target for further drilling. Merrex also has an established presence in western Mali and will continue as the initial operator at Siribaya.
Mike Donnelly, Iamgold's senior vice-president, exploration, says: "We are pleased to enter into this arrangement with Merrex. We are excited by the early results that Merrex has had on both the zones along the main regional structures, but also by the results from the breccia zone as these attest to the potential across this large 700-square-kilometre property. Iamgold has considerable exploration knowledge and experience in this part of West Africa and we see good potential to discover a significant gold deposit at Siribaya."
Iamgold's president and chief executive officer, Joseph Conway adds: "With our recent announcement of the proposed acquisition of Orezone Resources Inc., with its four-million-ounce gold deposit under construction in Burkina Faso, we have firmly established Iamgold as a leading gold company in West Africa. The agreement with Merrex further advances Iamgold's strategy of building the company's resource base and production profile in West Africa. Our experience in West Africa dates back to Iamgold's initial discovery and ongoing involvement in the Sadiola and Yatela gold mines that spans almost 20 years in Mali alone. About 50 per cent of Iamgold's almost one million ounces of gold production this year is from Africa."