Montage Gold pours 1,140 ounces at Koné ahead of schedule
The Sept. 26 first pour came before the original second-quarter 2027 schedule; the oxide circuit is targeted for commercial production in late 2026.
Mara Quinlan
Montage Gold Corp. TSEMAU OTCMKTSMAUTF said Sunday its Koné mine in Côte d'Ivoire poured about 1,140 ounces of gold on Sept. 26, ahead of the original second-quarter 2027 schedule. The first pour starts an output ramp that Montage expects to bring to commercial production from the oxide circuit in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Montage's TSEMAU shares fell 0.25 per cent to C$19.90 at 4 p.m. EDT in Toronto on Friday, Sept. 25, the last trading session before the Sunday announcement.
Construction began in December 2024, and Montage says the first pour was achieved on budget. Ore entered the oxide circuit on Sept. 8; more than 400,000 tonnes had been processed by the time of the first pour.
Montage attributes the early gold production to completing the oxide circuit ahead of schedule. Its hard-rock comminution circuit remains on budget and is due for completion in the second quarter of 2027, so the production milestone covers the oxide side of a mine still being built.
The company plans to begin mining Gbongogo Main, a higher-grade satellite deposit, late in the fourth quarter of 2026 while it continues to feed ore from Koné directly into the mill. Montage says direct feed limits ore rehandling and holds down working capital requirements during the ramp.
The 2024 feasibility study estimated 4.01 million ounces of probable reserves at 0.72 grams per tonne across Koné and Gbongogo Main, according to the Sept. 27 release. Gbongogo Main contributed 490,000 ounces at 1.43 grams per tonne. The remaining 3.52 million ounces at 0.67 grams per tonne came from Koné.
"Our ability to self-perform construction activities has significantly reduced capital cost requirements and allowed us to optimize the construction timeline," Montage president and chief development officer Peder Olsen said in the release.
Montage says its owner-mining model lets construction workers move into operating jobs after additional training. As of Sept. 27, construction had employed about 3,600 people, more than 95 per cent of them Ivorian nationals; the company expects about 1,500 permanent roles once the mine has ramped up.
The company has a 130,000-metre exploration program underway in 2026 and says a total of more than 380,000 metres will have been drilled since the feasibility study once it is complete. The work seeks higher-grade satellite deposits that could boost output from the start, according to the company.
Montage reported on June 15, 2026, that measured and indicated resources at higher-grade satellite deposits rose to 1.66 million ounces. The 2024 study used 520,000 ounces for those deposits. The company plans to incorporate the new data, the oxide circuit and owner-operated mining in a revised life-of-mine plan alongside year-end reserves and resources.
Montage expects further Koné drill results and oxide-circuit commercial production in the fourth quarter of 2026.
