IMG strikes key deal

Article Excerpt

IAMGOLD $6.64 (Toronto symbol IMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-888-464-9999; www.iamgold.com; Shares outstanding: 450.7 million; Market cap: $3.1 billion; No dividends paid) has found a major partner to help bring its biggest development project to production. The company has reached an agreement with Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining to help build a mine at its Côté gold property near Timmins, Ontario. Sumitomo will pay $100 million U.S. when the deal closes. A final $95 million U.S. is due within 18 months, or when IAMGold provides authorities with its final feasibility study on the economics of building the mine. The Côté deposit holds as much as 5.93 million ounces of gold. The partners hope to start construction in 2019. Production is scheduled to begin in 2021 at a rate of 320,000 ounces per year. IAMGold now produces around 850,000 ounces of gold per year, so the Côté mine will push it well over the million-ounce mark. IAMGold is still a buy. buy…