IAMGOLD Corp. is expanding its holdings in Quebec’s Chibougamau region with two acquisitions worth nearly $392 million. The transactions will combine several neighbouring deposits to create what the company calls the fourth-largest pre-production gold camp in Canada.
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Renaud Adams, president and CEO of IAMGOLD, about how the consolidation of the Nelligan and Monster Lake projects with new assets from Northern Superior Resources and Mines d’Or Orbec fits into the company’s broader growth strategy.
Key Takeaways
- IAMGOLD announced deals to acquire Northern Superior Resources and Mines d’Or Orbec for a combined $392 million.
- The transactions consolidate IAMGOLD’s properties near Nelligan and Monster Lake into a single Nelligan Mining Complex.
- The new complex is projected to host 3.75 million ounces of measured and indicated resources and 8.65 million ounces inferred.
- The combined land position in the Chibougamau region now totals more than 134,000 hectares.
- IAMGOLD says the close proximity of deposits supports plans for a centralized processing facility fed by multiple ore sources.
Read the full transcript below:
ROGER: Let’s take a quick look at the markets right now — it’s a good day both in Toronto and New York. South of the border, the S&P 500 is up 75 points, or 1.13 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 500 points, and the Nasdaq has gained 1.48 per cent. Here in Toronto, the TSX is also higher, up almost 320 points, bringing year-to-date gains for the index to about 22.6 per cent.
In two deals announced today, IAMGOLD is acquiring Northern Superior Resources and Mines d’Or Orbec. The transactions are expected to help the Canadian mid-tier gold producer create one of the country’s largest pre-production gold camps. For more, we’re joined by Renaud Adams, president and CEO of IAMGOLD. Renaud, thank you very much for joining us.
RENAUD: Thank you for having me. It’s an exciting time.
ROGER: It is. Those are two big acquisitions for you. What do you want to do with them? Where do you go with this now?
RENAUD: We’ve been looking at consolidating this camp for some time in a very disciplined way. We’ve owned the Nelligan deposit since 2023, as we continued building the Côté Gold mine in northern Ontario. It’s been a great project and a growing story.
We saw early on that we could also build another strong mining camp in Quebec, where we’ve had a long-standing presence. We began by consolidating full ownership of Nelligan and launching an extensive exploration program. We’ve been very active over the past two years, and these two new transactions really bring that effort together.
With these announcements, we’re effectively tripling our land package. The combined resources of Northern Superior and IAMGOLD’s holdings position this new camp as the fourth-largest pre-production gold camp in Canada. It’s still in the early stages, but we’re very excited about how large this camp could become.
Looking ahead, our immediate focus remains on Côté Gold in Ontario, where production ramp-up is well underway. We see expansion potential there, and now we’re building a new pipeline of projects in Quebec. When it comes to IAMGOLD’s Canadian focus, we already have a strong and growing operation in Ontario, and now we’ve completed the consolidation of what we believe could become another major mine down the road.
Over the next two years, we’ll focus on aggressive drilling across our properties, particularly Nelligan, Monster Lake, Philibert and, eventually, Orbec, which provides extensions to the west. It’s very exciting to have two strong Canadian camps, each with the potential to host 15 to 20 million ounces of gold — about 20 million already in Ontario and potentially that much in Quebec.
ROGER: What’s drawing you to Canada? Is this pulling you away from international operations such as Burkina Faso?
RENAUD: Not entirely. We’re not exclusive to Canada, but our focus has shifted. We used to have more than 80 per cent of our business in South America and West Africa. With the acquisition of the Côté Gold deposit in 2012 and its development since, it became clear that refocusing on North America made strategic sense.
Côté Gold is a best-in-class, long-life asset with strong growth potential, and we still had a solid presence in Quebec. Now, with this new camp, more than 90 per cent of our resources and net asset value are in Canada. It’s been a natural evolution since acquiring Côté Gold.
We still operate the Essakane mine in Burkina Faso, which produces about 400,000 ounces attributable to IAMGOLD and generates strong free cash flow. But our valuation and resource base are now overwhelmingly Canadian — more than 90 per cent.
ROGER: Any concerns about the gold price? It’s been climbing, but could a downturn impact your strategy?
RENAUD: We’ve designed the company to be financially solid and generate free cash flow even at much lower gold prices. The recent rise has helped us accelerate debt repayment, and we expect to have a very strong balance sheet by the second quarter of next year.
We don’t build our strategy around high gold prices. Our reserve assumptions are based on gold below US$2,000 per ounce and our resources around US$2,500. We’re not planning our operations around a $4,000 gold price — we’re just taking advantage of current strength to move faster on our strategic goals.
Longer term, we’ll continue to focus on cost efficiency and cash flow generation, while considering ways to deliver additional value to shareholders, potentially through future rewards programs.
ROGER: We’re out of time, Renaud, but thank you very much for joining us today.
RENAUD: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
ROGER: Renaud Adams, president and CEO of IAMGOLD.
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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the Oct. 20, 2025 interview with Renaud Adams are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.
