NIOBIUM: IamGold unloads Niobec mine to former Barrick boss

QUEBEC – IamGold Corp. has sold its Niobec niobium mine near Saguenay for a total consideration of US$530 million to a consortium lead by former Barrick president and CEO Aaron Regent. This is the first acquisition made by Regent's private equity firm Magris Resources in Toronto. The deal is expected to close by the end of January 2015.

The sale of Niobec includes a adjacent prospective rare earth element property.

IamGold, as its name implies, will move forward as pure gold play. It operates two gold mines in Quebec and one each in Burkina Faso, Surinam and Mali. The company also had advanced gold projects in Ontario and French Guiana, plus a portfolio of exploration projects in Canada, South America and Africa.

The purchasers of the Niobec mine include Magris, Singapore's Temasek Holdings, CEF Holdings (a Hong Kong-based investment company owned by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce), and billionaire Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Holdings.

Learn more about Magris at MagrisResources.com.