Mako Gold has increased its ownership of the Napiè gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa after signing an agreement to acquire Perseus Mining’s 39 per cent stake.
This has boosted Mako’s interest in the project from 51 per cent to 90 per cent.
Perseus, which is Mako’s joint venture (JV) partner in the Napiè project, will now become a strategic shareholder of Mako with a 5.1 per cent equity holding.
According to Mako managing director Peter Ledwidge, the consolidation of Napiè is a significant achievement for the company.
“We are pleased to welcome proven West African gold developer and producer Perseus as a cornerstone shareholder in Mako,” he said.
“They have proved to be a supportive JV partner at Napié and we look forward to their ongoing support as a shareholder of Mako.
“The consolidation of the Napié gold project to 90 per cent ownership is a major milestone for Mako, simplifying the existing joint venture and providing our shareholders with a clearer path to the commercialisation of this asset.”
African American Investment Fund (AAIF) owns the remaining 10 per cent stake in the Napiè project.
Mako will acquire Perseus’ 39 per cent stake for an initial equity consideration of 13.8 million shares, equivalent to 5.1 per cent of Mako’s initial capital as part of the transaction.
Two deferred milestone agreements are also included in the transaction, including a resource definition payment of $2.4 million and commercial production payment of $2.4 million.
“This transaction is a testament to the Mako team for their exploration success at Napié and strategy to unlock further value. The transaction also provides Perseus with upside on future exploration success by Mako on the Korhogo Project and any other exploration project in which Mako becomes involved,” Ledwidge said.
Prior to the binding agreement, Mako was earning up to a 75 per cent interest in Napiè through a farm-in and joint venture agreement with Perseus subsidiary Occidental Gold.
Mako has also increased the strike length of gold mineralised zones at Napiè’s Tchaga prospect, after the company received assays of 3 metres at 2.79 grams per tonne of gold from 20 metres, including 1 metre at 6.73 grams per tonne of gold from 21 metres.
“The drill results announced today contribute to the expansion of the Tchaga Prospect as we move towards a JORC (joint ore reserves committee) maiden mineral resource estimate,” Ledwidge said.
“NARC405DD has outlined multiple zones of gold mineralisation which broaden the overall width of the deposit and extend gold mineralised zones along strike.”
The NARC405DD drill hole contained assays of 5 metres at 1 gram per tonne of gold from 144 metres and 2 metres at 3.53 grams per tonne of gold from 162 metres.