Overview
Gold is a well-respected store of value that builds a strong foundation for any investment portfolio. While commodities are worth considering, investing in a mining company focused on gold allows you to benefit from the company’s growth and rising gold value. West Africa is known for its significant gold mining operations, comprising over 80 percent of Mali’s total exports, making it the fourth largest gold producer in Africa.
The discovery of a new gold belt in an underexplored area of Southern Mali has captured the attention of major mining companies, such as Eldorado Gold Corporation (NYSE:EGO) and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM).
Sylla Gold (TSXV:SYG) is a Canadian junior gold exploration and development mining company focusing on exploring and acquiring gold properties throughout West Africa. The company’s flagship asset, the Niaouleni gold project, covers over 17,200 hectares within an emerging gold camp in the prolific Birimian greenstones of southwest Mali. An experienced management team with a track record of success within West Africa leads Sylla Gold toward its goals of exploring and developing its promising asset.
The company’s Niaouleni project runs contiguously south along Niaouleni-Kobada-Sanankora Corridor, on strike with Toubani Resource’s Kobada Gold Deposit. The Kobada deposit contains a measured and indicated mineral resource of 61.5 million tonnes (Mt) at 0.86 grams per ton (g/t) gold for a total of 1.71 million ounces (Moz) of contained gold, and includes mineral reserves. Additionally, to the north of Toubani within the same corridor is Cora Gold’s Sanankoro Project, which has an indicated resource of 16.1 Mt at 1.27 g/t gold for 657,000 oz of contained gold and an inferred resource of 8.7 Mt at 0.94 g/t gold for 263,000 oz of contained gold. These significant resource estimates on adjacent properties indicate the blue sky potential of the Niaouleni project as exploration continues on all three.
Sylla Gold completed its maiden drilling campaign, which included 6,754 meters of reverse circulation (RC) drilling and an additional 10,600 meters of air core drilling. Assays from the RC drilling indicated 48 out of 57 holes hit high-grade gold mineralization up to 5.17 g/t over 25 meters. The air core drilling was used as a first-pass reconnaissance style drilling and identified multiple additional gold targets for follow-up RC drilling commenced in January 2023 with drilling highlights that include 4.92 g/t gold over 15 meters from drill hole NSRC23-068 including 14.9 g/t gold over 4 meters and 2.56 g/t gold over 7 meters.
Sylla’s management and discovery team has already had success in their previous three West African gold projects, such as the Jilbey Gold discovery of the Bissa Hill deposit, the Merrex Gold discovery of the Siribaya and Diakha deposits, and the Roscan Gold discovery of the Kandiole deposit. Major mining companies acquired Jilbey Gold and Merrex Gold after successful exploration. In addition, the management team and technical advisors bring additional exploration in corporate administration, international finance, and geology.
Company Highlights
Sylla Gold is a Canadian exploration and development mining company focusing on highly prospective assets within Mali, a West African country known for its gold deposits.Despite a long gold mining history, Mali still contains underexplored assets that have received little to no exploration using modern technologies and techniques.The flagship Niaouleni asset covers 17,200 hectares within the newly discovered Birimian greenstone gold belt, which runs along southwest Mali.The company’s Niaouleni asset is adjacent to Toubani Resource’s Kobada Gold Project which contains a measured and indicated mineral resource of 61.5 million tonnes (Mt) at 0.86 grams per ton (g/t) gold for a total of 1.71 million ounces (Moz) of contained gold, and includes mineral reserves.The Niaouleni’s close proximity to prolific gold discoveries indicates the potential for future discoveries and development.Sylla Gold has completed its maiden drilling campaign at Niaouleni, results of which indicate that 48 out of 57 holes intersected high-grade gold mineralization up to 5.17 g/t gold over 25 meters. Phase 2 of the drilling program commenced in January 2023.. An experienced management team with a track record of success in West Africa leads the company toward fully exploring its blue-sky gold asset.
Key Project
Niaouleni Gold Project
Sylla Gold’s flagship project covers 17,200 hectares within what appears to be a developing mining camp in southwest Mali. The licenses are accessible along maintained roads approximately 128 kilometers southwest of Bamako, Mali’s capital city. The company recently completed its maiden drill campaign and is analyzing drill results.
Project Highlights:
Promising Exploration Results: The company recently completed its maiden drilling campaign, following up on priority targets identified by completed exploration campaigns. Preliminary results indicated that 48 out of 57 holes intersected high-grade gold mineralization, including:5.17 g/t gold over 25 meters4.51 g/t gold over 4 meters2.81 g/t gold over 12 meters3.94 g/t gold over 3 meters2.13 g/t gold over 25 metersAdjacent to an Expanding Project: The project is nearby Toubani Resource’s Kobada Gold project, which contains a measured and indicated mineral resource of 61.5 Mt at 0.86 g/t gold for a total of 1.71 Moz of contained gold, and includes mineral reserves.
Management Team
Regan Isenor – President, CEO and Director
Regan Isenor holds a BA from Acadia University and a master’s in project management from St. Mary’s University. Isenor has over 14 years of experience in exploration projects worldwide with publicly traded companies involved in the resource sector. Isenor is formerly CEO of MegumaGold Corp., a TSXV Canadian junior gold exploration company focused on value-oriented exploration within the emerging gold camp of the Meguma Formation in Nova Scotia. Prior to joining MegumaGold Corp. in June 2018, Isenor was involved with various international projects in Turkey (Menderes), West Africa (Burkina Faso, Bissa Hill deposit, Mali Siribaya Gold project), Ireland (Zinc), Northern Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Isenor served as an executive and past president of the Mining Society of Nova Scotia.
J. Francois Lalonde – Chairman
J. Francois Lalonde holds a BSc in civil engineering from Concordia University in Montreal and has been a member of the Order of Engineers of Quebec from 1984 to 2014. Lalonde is an independent consulting civil engineer and has worked for and consulted with multinational engineering and construction companies such as SNC-Lavalin (a Canadian company based in Montreal) and Bouygues Travaux Publics (a French firm based in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines). Lalonde has also participated in international business development for the Quebec firm Pomerleau Construction. He has in-depth knowledge of markets and business acquaintances in Canada, United States, Middle East and Africa, where he most notably participated in large-scale energy, motorway and other infrastructure development and mining projects.
Lalonde is also a director of Stellar AfricaGold. (TSXV:SPX) and Granite Creek Copper (TSXV:GCX). He was formerly a director of Algold Resources (TSXV:ALG)
Mark McMurdie – Chief Financial Officer
Mark McMurdie has over 30 years of experience in providing financial management services and has provided accounting and financial services to various public and private companies. He currently acts for a publicly traded company on the TSX Venture Exchange. Over his career, McMurdie has acquired valuable experience in several sectors including mining, franchising, oil and gas, merchant banking, distribution, and real estate. McMurdie has specific experience in working with mining and exploration companies, which includes the leadership and development of a corporation’s accounting and finance functions, strategic planning, and restructurings, as well as liaising with shareholders, members of the board of directors, securities regulators, and financial institutions.
Gregory Isenor – Director
Gregory Isenor holds a BSc in geology from Acadia University and is a member of the Association of Professional Geologists of Nova Scotia. Currently, Isenor is an independent director and QP of Roscan Gold Corporation, a company engaged in gold exploration in Western Mali.
Isenor was president, CEO and director (2005 to 2017) of Merrex Gold Inc., up until Merrex was taken over by IAMGOLD Corporation. During that time, Merrex discovered two significant gold deposits in Mali (West Africa): the Siribaya deposit and, with joint venture partner IAMGOLD, the Diakha deposit. To date, these two deposits are estimated to represent a combined resource approaching approximately two million ounces of gold.
Previously, Isenor was the president, CEO and director (2003 to 2005) of Jilbey Gold Exploration Ltd., until Jilbey was acquired by High River Gold Mines Limited. During Isenor’s time with Jilbey, he led the team that identified the Bissa gold deposit in Burkina Faso (West Africa), which was placed into production by Nord Gold SE and has a reported resource exceeding 5 million ounces of gold. In addition, from 1979 to 2003, Isenor worked as an independent consulting geologist on mineral exploration projects in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Africa. Isenor founded Jubilee Minerals Inc, to develop the Jubilee zinc deposit and Glencoe Resources Inc. to develop the Glencoe limestone deposit. Both deposits are located in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Darrin Campbell – Director
Darrin Campbell is a chartered professional accountant and certified management accountant with 20 years of executive financial management experience. Campbell is currently the president of Namibia Critical Metals Inc (TSXV:NMI), which is developing the Lofdal Heavy Rare Earth Project under joint venture with Japan Oil Gas & Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC). Campbell also served as the CFO of NMI from March 2017 to April 2021. Campbell has provided contract accounting and financial services to numerous public and private companies and played key leadership roles in financings and transactions taking companies public onto the TSXV. From 2013 to 2014, he was the CFO of Ressources Appalaches and was the financial leader bringing into production Nova Scotia’s first operating gold mine in over 14 years. Campbell obtained a Bachelor of Commerce from Saint Mary’s University in 1996 and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Nova Scotia.
Jamie Spratt – Director
Jamie Spratt is president at Walmsley Capital Inc. a corporate finance and advisory firm that he founded in 2019. He has 15 years of capital markets experience in equity research and investment banking. Spratt was previously a partner and equity research analyst at Clarus Securities Inc., where he was a key member of a respected mining practice that participated in many equity financings. Spratt started his career in investment banking where he advised on M&A and corporate finance mandates and achieved valuable transaction experience. Spratt has an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, a BA in applied economics from Queen’s University, and a CFA charter holder. He is a member of the Toronto Society of Financial Analysts.
