Orea to acquire Nordgold’s interest in in Montagne d’Or Gold deposit

Orea has appointed its own President to operate HoldingCo, and has dissolved HoldingCo’s board of directors which previously included representatives from Nordgold. The final regulatory and administrative steps to close by transferring Nordgold’s shares of HoldingCo to Orea are underway, and must be completed by 28 February 2023.

Under the definitive agreement, HoldingCo has settled €24.6 million (CAN$35.6 million) that was owed to Nordgold with no cash outlays by Orea. In addition, consideration is entirely at the back-end, whereby Orea will only be obligated to pay Nordgold CAN$100 million when Orea receives all permits and authorisations necessary for the construction, operation, production and related sales of a mine that produces a minimum of 100 000 oz/yr of gold. If Nordgold’s shareholders are still under sanctions at the time of the CAN$100 million payment, then the funds will only be processed in compliance with applicable sanction regulations, including being paid to a blocked bank account.

The definitive agreement was signed with the approval of the French treasury (DG Trésor) which is responsible for overseeing matters related to Russian sanctions. Comfort related to sanctions was also obtained from the UK treasury (OFSI), and the US Treasury (OFAC) has been kept informed of all developments, following the signing of the initial letter agreement with Nordgold, which was executed under a General Licence that was granted by OFAC in June 2022.

In addition, further to the press release of 6 December 2022, announcing the bolstering of its management team to focus on permitting of the Montagne d’Or project, Orea has announced that Andrew Yau has agreed to resign as Executive Vice President & CFO, but will remain with Orea until 15 March 2023, so that Orea may locate a native French speaker to succeed him. Orea is committed to assembling a strong permitting team and believes that a French speaking CFO is essential to the permitting process. Orea would like to thank Mr. Yau for his vital contributions and exceptional commitment to Orea over the past ten years and wishes him great success in his future endeavours.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/06012023/orea-to-acquire-nordgolds-interest-in-in-montagne-dor-gold-deposit/