Could you briefly introduce Compass Gold to our audience?

Compass Gold is a relatively new venture, launched in December 2017. We have been exploring a large land package of over 1,000 km² in southern Mali. Very experienced professionals and executives, including the founders of IAMGOLD, lead the company, and we have a great technical team. Besides the people, the second pillar to our company is the place we operate in: Mali is one of the most prolific gold districts in the world. From the start, we have had tremendous success in our property, which is situated on several gold trends that hold numerous discoveries and deposits.

Could you give us more details on the work completed at the Sikasso property, where Compass Gold has already identified five targets?

Our property spans three separate greenstone belts and, until now, we have mostly focused on the first two blocks; the Yanfolila North (north of Hummingbird’s Yanfolila mine) and Yanfolila South (north of Endeavour’s Kalana mine). Our third block is Kalé, which is located on a trend that also hosts the Syama mine, operated by Resolute. We identified about 40 large surface anomalies (between three and four km long), and the drilling indicates the markings of an open pit resource at good width (between 15 to 25 m), together with grades in excess of 4 g/t Au, while the average grade in Mali is under 1.5 g/t Au. We will resume drilling at the end of November after the rainy season.

How is the recent coup in Mali impacting the exploration sector?

Mali is in the midst of organizing a transitional government in the next 18 months, and the objectives of the opposition have been socio-economic rather than ideological in nature. Looking back at the history of Mali, companies such as IAMGOLD started in the 1990s while the country was confronted with the deposition of former president Moussa Traoré, who was replaced by general Amadou Touré. During these power transitions, mining companies were still able to negotiate their exploration and mining permits and generally function efficiently in the region. Today, as an exploration company, we have a more discrete presence in terms of the traffic of goods and capital, compared to producers, but I believe the industry tends to agree that operations have continued normally and that a proper mining framework will remain in place, because mining, whether international or artisanal, is an important part of Malian society and its economy.

How do you see opportunities for juniors materializing in this high-gold price market?

As producers see higher margins, they will look at exploration companies that already have a good start, rather than spending four or five years developing assets themselves. From an investors’ point of view, both confidence and capital will continue to be poured into the mining industry in Mali, which has a 30-year track record. Our package was one of the last land parcels left, so there is little untouched ground in the country, but the existing companies continue to thrive and spark investors’ interest.

Could you walk us through your financing strategy and tell us more about your shareholders’ base?

When we first launched the company, we raised sufficient money to see us through at least one year of operation, and last year we repeated the exercise, funding our activities until the end of 2021. As a group, we like to see 90 cents of every investor’s dollar spent in the ground. Our investors base is quite solid; over 30% of the Company is owned by the management and the board, and the top 25 shareholders are industry players familiar with us. Semafo (now Endeavour) acquired 11% of our company, which we see as a very strategic support. When we completed our first private placement, up to 80% of investors were repeated shareholders who showed they were ready to support us through the next step. London and Perth are the two main bases for our investors.