Iamgold assays support Côté project expansion in Ontario

Iamgold (TSX: IMG; NYSE: IAG) says drill results support expanding the Gosselin discovery that could be added to the Côté project targeting first-pour next year in northern Ontario.  

The Gosselin deposit lies beside Côté, a joint venture between Iamgold as operator and Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining 125 km southwest of Timmins.  

Côté remains on schedule to start production in early 2024, the Toronto-based miner said in a news release on Thursday. The company said it’s studying how to include Gosselin in the Côté project.  

Gosselin assay highlights include diamond drill hole GOS22-105, which cut 342.2 metres grading 1.99 grams gold per tonne from 206.9 metres deep, including 101.8 metres at 3.05 grams from 311 metres and 89 metres at 2.48 grams from 459 metres.  

Drill hole GOS22-126 returned 313 metres at 1.29 grams gold from 511 metres downhole and 75 metres at 3.68 grams from 523 metres. Hole GOS22-129 cut 181 metres at 1.5 grams from 512 metres and 91.3 metres at 2.55 grams from 582 metres.   

“The results from the 2022 drilling program support the anticipated expansion potential at Gosselin, specifically south of and below the interpreted resource boundaries of the deposit model,” Craig MacDougall, executive vice-president for growth at Iamgold, said in the release.

“Future drilling programs at Gosselin will continue to target the extensions of the deposit towards the goal of defining further potential resource expansion and resource classification upgrades.”  

Iamgold’s assays are from 27 holes totaling 14,660 metres drilled last year at the same time as construction advanced next door at Côté, the company said. It has started the next phase of drilling to further test Gosselin’s expansion targets, it said.  

Exploration has found wide intervals of low-grade mineralization in altered and brecciated intrusive lithologies like Côté, Iamgold said. A strike length of 1.4 km, at 400 metres wide and 425 metres deep runs from the Young-Shannon historical shaft in the west to the Gosselin zone in the east, it said.  

The Gosselin deposit holds 124.5 million tonnes of indicated resources grading 0.84 gram gold per tonne for contained metal of 3.35 million oz., according to an October 2021 initial mineral resources estimate. It has inferred resources of 72.9 million tonnes grading 0.73 gram gold for 1.71 million ounces. 

Iamgold is selling nearly $1 billion of its African assets to help pay for Côté’s development. The project is two-thirds complete, the company said in December. Sumitomo injected US$340 million into the project to increase its share to 40%. Iamgold holds 60% but intends to eventually buy back 10% from Sumitomo.  

Côté is to start producing 495,000 oz. a year from proven and probable reserves of 233 million tonnes grading 0.96 gram gold per tonne for 7.17 million oz. gold over an 18-year mine life. 

The project has a net present value of US$3.4 billion at a 5% discount rate, according to BMO Capital Markets.  

Shares in Iamgold fell 3% in Toronto on Thursday afternoon to $3.71, within a 52-week range of $1.26 to $4.74, valuing the company at US$1.8 billion.