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Jaguar Mining (TSX: JAG) has announced the acquisition of IAMGOLD’s (NYSE: IAG) (TSX: IMG) Brazilian assets as part of an ongoing strategy to increase usage of the company’s existing processing capacity.
Via a share purchase agreement, Jaguar will acquire IAMGOLD’s Pitangui project as well as its interest in the Acurui project for a total transaction value of $9 million. IAMGOLD will retain a net smelter return royalty on the projects.
The Pitangui project is located approximately 110 km northwest of the city of Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais, in close proximity to Jaguar’s MTL complex. A 2020 technical report published by IAMGOLD calculated a resource base of 3.3 million tonnes measured and indicated grading 4.39 g/t gold and 3.5 million tonnes inferred at 3.78 g/t gold.
According to Vern Baker, Jaguar’s CEO, the combination of Pitangui and the company’s Faina development project now provides a “long runway of low capital intensity, high return on invested capital growth” at the MTL complex for many years to come.
The Acurui project is currently an exploration joint venture between Jaguar and IAMGOLD, where Jaguar is the operator. It comprises exploration tenements contiguous to the company’s Paciência complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012.
“This transaction furthers our corporate strategy to leverage our extensive existing infrastructure to drive production growth via increased plant throughput. The incorporation of the Pitangui mineral property adds approximately 9 million hectares of prospective mining and exploration tenements to our Iron Quadrangle portfolio,” Baker said in the statement.
Jaguar’s principal operating assets are currently all located within the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in Minas Gerais. These include the Turmalina gold mine complex and Caeté mining complex (Pilar and Roça Grande mines, and Caeté plant). The Roça Grande mine has been on temporary care and maintenance since April 2019.
Shares of Jaguar Mining shot up 3.4% by noon EDT Wednesday. The Brazil-focused gold miner has a market capitalization of C$110 million ($82.5m).
