Orea Mining Corp. is pleased to provide an update on the renewal of the Montagne d’Or Gold Deposit (“Montagne d’Or”) concessions (the “Mining Titles”), located in French Guiana, France, owned 44.99% by Orea and 55.01% by Nord Gold plc (the “JV“).
As announced on July 22, 2021, the Court of Appeal of Bordeaux rejected the French Government’s appeal and its request for a stay of execution of the initial court rulings of December 24, 2020, which were in favour of the JV, ordering the renewal of the Mining Titles. In its ruling, the Court of Appeal concluded that the arguments put forth by the French Government were without merit and that the JV submitted complete applications and met all requirements for the renewal of the Mining Titles.
The French Government had until September 17, 2021, to file a second and final appeal to the French Supreme Court (Conseil d’Etat). As of today, September 27, 2021, the JV has not received or located any official communication that a second and final appeal has been lodged.
The JV expects to know in reasonable due-course if an appeal has been lodged. If an appeal has been lodged, the Supreme Court will conduct an analysis on whether to admit or reject to hear the appeal. To be admissible, the appeal must be based on reasoned arguments and serious grounds. No deadline is provided for such an analysis and the appeal will be communicated to the JV only if it is admitted for hearing. If the appeal is considered admissible, the Supreme Court will only assess whether the initial court rulings were sufficiently substantiated and if the procedural rules have been duly followed without error; therefore, it would not be possible for the French Government to present new or additional arguments. In principle, an appeal before the Supreme Court has no suspensive effect, therefore the initial court rulings should be upheld and implemented, except if the Supreme Court expressly decides otherwise pending its final ruling on an appeal.
In addition, on June 25, 2021, the JV filed additional claims before the French courts to enforce the court decisions of December 24, 2020, and have the French Government be subject to a daily penalty, which is payable to the JV, until the Mining Titles have been formally renewed.
Montagne d’Or, located in French Guiana, France, is a permitting-stage open pit gold deposit that hosts Proven Mineral Reserves of 8.25 Mt at 1.99 g/t gold (530,000 oz) and Probable Mineral Reserves of 45.87 Mt at 1.50 g/t gold (2.2 Moz). The mineralized zones remain open on strike to the west and at depth. Utilizing a gold price of $1,300, the deposit hosts Measured Mineral Resources of 10.3 Mt at 1.804 g/t gold (600,000 oz), plus Indicated Mineral Resources of 74.8 Mt at 1.350 g/t gold (3.25 Moz) and additional Inferred Mineral Resources of 20.2 Mt at 1.48 g/t gold (960,000 oz).*
If the Mining Titles are renewed, Montagne d’Or will be subject to various regulatory requirements prior to proceeding with the construction and operation of a mine, which include but are not limited to, the grant of mining and environmental authorizations and construction permits by the State.
Additional updates will be provided by Orea in due-course.
*About Montagne d’Or
Montagne d’Or is a permitting-stage open pit gold deposit that hosts Measured Mineral Resources of 10.3 Mt at 1.804 g/t gold (600,000 oz), Indicated Mineral Resources of 74.8 Mt at 1.350 g/t gold (3.25 Moz) and additional Inferred Mineral Resources of 20.2 Mt at 1.48 g/t gold (960,000 oz), prepared in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). The Mineral Resources are confined within a pit shell defined by a gold price of US$1,300/oz and a cut-off grade of 0.4 g/t gold. Mineral Reserves have also been defined with Proven Mineral Reserves of 8.25 Mt at 1.99 g/t gold (530,000 oz) and Probable Mineral Reserves of 45.87 Mt at 1.50 g/t gold (2.2 Moz). The Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves were estimated using a gold price of US$1,200 per ounce at varied cut-off grades from 0.552 to 0.665 g/t gold, dependent on lithological rock types, economics and estimated metallurgical recovery. Montagne d’Or ore can be readily processed to recover the contained gold and silver values using unit operations considered standard to the industry. For more information, see Orea’s news release titled “Columbus Gold Announces Positive Bankable Feasibility Study for Montagne d’Or Gold Project, French Guiana” dated March 20, 2017 and filed on SEDAR and the technical report prepared in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101 titled “NI 43-101 Technical Report, Bankable Feasibility Study – Montagne d’Or Project, French Guiana” by SRK Consulting for Columbus Gold (now Orea Mining) and Nordgold with an Effective Date of March 6, 2017, and a report date of April 28, 2017, which was filed on SEDAR on April 28, 2017.
Qualified Person
Rock Lefrançois, President & Chief Executive Officer of Orea and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed this news release and is responsible for the technical information reported herein, including verification of the data disclosed.
About Orea Mining Corp.
Orea is a leading gold exploration and development company operating in a prospective and underexplored segment of the Guiana Shield, South America. Its mission is to develop gold deposits with a reduced environmental footprint using innovative technologies, upholding the highest international standards for responsible mining. In French Guiana, Orea holds a major interest in the world-class Montagne d’Or mine development project and is also advancing the Maripa gold exploration project.
For more about Orea visit the company’s website at www.oreamining.com
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD:
Rock Lefrançois
President & CEO