Under the terms of the agreement, Iamgold exercised its option to increase its ownership interest in the property from 51% to 75% by completing a mineral resource estimate and making remaining cash payments to Vanstar totaling C$2.35 million. Iamgold retains a further option to acquire an additional 5% interest by completing and delivering an NI 43-101-compliant feasibility study. The Nelligan project currently hosts pit-constrained inferred resources totaling 97 million metric tons (mt), averaging 1.02 grams/mt gold, for 3.2 million ounces (oz) of contained gold.

In the coming months, additional metallurgical tests will be completed to provide additional information on the metallurgical recoveries from the various zones of Nelligan mineralization and to help optimize process flowsheet parameters. Planning for future drilling programs is ongoing, with objectives that include additional infill drilling to improve resource classification and convert inferred resources to indicated resources, evaluation of potential resource extensions in the deeper parts of the deposit, and evaluation of potential resource expansions along strike. Regional exploration will continue to define and test other priority targets on the property.

Iamgold Senior Vice President of Exploration Craig MacDougall said, “The exercise of the option to increase Iamgold’s ownership to 75% consolidates our ownership in this new discovery and further supports our view of the favorable exploration potential for the discovery of additional resources. We look forward to continuing to work with Vanstar as we advance our exploration efforts on the project.”