Vanstar is a gold exploration company with properties located in Northern Quebec at different stages of development. Vanstar’s primary asset is a 25% interest in the Nelligan joint venture project (IAMGOLD holds the other 75%), which is located 60 km southwest of Chibougamau, Quebec, Canada.

Under the terms of the current joint venture agreement, IAMGOLD has the option to acquire an additional interest of 5% by completing and delivering a feasibility study on the project. Vanstar’s remaining 20% interest would be retained as an undivided non-contributory carried interest until the commencement of commercial production, after which the 20% undivided interest becomes participating and Vanstar would be required to pay its attributable portion of the total development and construction costs to the commencement of commercial production from 80% of its share of any distributions from the joint venture. Vanstar also hold a 1% NSR royalty on selected claims of the project.

“This transaction consolidates our interests in the highly prospective Nelligan deposit while building our exploration portfolio within Northern Quebec,’ commented Renaud Adams, president and CEO of IAMGOLD. “Our exploration efforts at Nelligan to date, in partnership with Vanstar, have shown the potential for further resource expansion, which we will continue to advance.”

On January 12, 2023, IAMGOLD announced an updated mineral resource estimate for Nelligan of 72.2 million metric tons (mt) of indicated mineral resources averaging 0.85 g/mt of gold for 1.97 million oz of gold, and 114.1 million mt of inferred mineral resources averaging 0.88 g/mt of gold for 3.24 million oz of gold.