Completion of Gold Royalty & Property Transaction with Desert Gold

DIDCOT, UK / ACCESSWIRE / October 31, 2019 / Altus Strategies Plc (AIM:ALS)(TSX-V:ALTS), the Africa focused project and royalty generator, announces the successful completion of the royalty and property sale transaction with TSX-V listed Desert Gold Ventures Inc. ("Desert Gold") on the Company's contiguous Sebessounkoto Sud and Djelimangara gold projects ("Projects") located in western Mali. The transaction has closed in accordance with the Term Sheet between Altus and Desert Gold, as announced by the Company on 28 August 2019.

Highlights:

Closing of royalty and property sale transaction with Desert Gold
Altus to receive an initial consideration of:

2.5% Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty on the Projects
3,000,000 shares in Desert Gold with a current value of approximately C$420,000
US$50,000 in cash

Subject to progress on the Projects, Altus will receive the following milestone payments:

US$100,000 in cash and 2,000,000 Desert Gold shares on the first 500,000 oz defined
US$100,000 in cash and 3,000,000 Desert Gold shares on the second 500,000 oz defined

Historical drilling intersections include 11.05 g/t Au over 3.7m and 3.71 g/t Au over 8.0m
Desert Gold plan approximately 15,000m of drilling in 2020 to include the Projects
Projects strategically located in Kéniéba window of western Mali, 20km southeast of Sadiola

Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus, commented:

"We are delighted to have closed this gold royalty and property transaction with Desert Gold on the highly prospective Sebessounkoto Sud and Djelimangara projects in western Mali. In return for a 100% interest in the Projects, Altus will receive an initial consideration of 3,000,000 Desert Gold shares with a current value of approximately C$420,000, a 2.5% NSR royalty on the Projects and US$50,000 in cash. Subject to defining a one million ounce gold resource, Altus will also receive from Desert Gold up to an additional 5,000,000 Desert Gold shares, with a current market value of approximately C$700,000 and up to US$200,000 in cash. Through our shareholding in Desert Gold Altus gains exposure to a substantial 407km2 land package, which incorporates a 38 km long section of the prolific Senegal Mali Shear Zone. Desert Gold have an aggressive exploration programme planned for this area in the coming year, including approximately 15,000m of drilling. We look forward to the results from that work programme in due course.

"In addition to the transaction with Desert Gold, Altus recently announced an extension to the exclusivity period for the completion of the proposed Joint Venture with Glomin Services Ltd on the Company's Lakanfla and Tabakorole gold projects in Western & Southern Mali respectively. Only our most advanced gold asset in Mali, namely the Diba project, is not currently subject to a transaction. Diba has a historic oxide resource, not in accordance with NI 43-101, and is contiguous with the Sadiola mine permit.

"The completion of this transaction with Desert Gold, further underscores our clear strategy of making and monetising discoveries in Africa to grow a valuable portfolio of project, equity and royalty interests".

Transaction Terms

Altus has entered into a definitive Sale & Purchase agreement and a Royalty agreement ("Agreements") with Desert Gold resulting in Desert Gold acquiring a 100% interest in Legend Mali Holdings (BVI) Inc ("Legend"), a formerly wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. Through its Malian subsidiary Legend holds a 100% interest in the Projects. The Agreements incorporate the following headline terms:

Part 1: Consideration

Desert Gold will:

Within 5 days make a cash payment to Altus of US$50,000; and
Within 14 days and subject to any regulatory or shareholder approvals as may be required, issue 3,000,000 shares of Desert Gold to Altus.

Part 2: Milestone payments

Upon the definition of a NI 43-101 compliant independent resource across the Projects which exceeds 500,000 ounces of gold, then Desert Gold will (in respect of the first 500,000 ounces only):

Within 5 days make a cash payment to Altus of US$100,000; and
Within 14 days and subject to any regulatory or shareholder approvals as may be required, issue 2,000,000 shares of Desert Gold to Altus.

Upon the definition of a NI 43-101 compliant independent resource across the Projects which exceeds 1,000,000 ounces of gold then Desert Gold will (in respect of the second 500,000 ounces only):

Within 5 days make a cash payment to Altus of US$100,000; and
Within 14 days and subject to any regulatory or shareholder approvals as may be required, issue 3,000,000 shares of Desert Gold to Altus.

Part 3: Project Royalties

Altus will retain a 2.5% Net Smelter Return ("Altus NSR") royalty on the Projects.
Desert Gold will have the right to repurchase up to 1.5% of the Altus NSR. The amount payable by Desert Gold to Altus will be calculated by reference to the NI 43-101 gold reserve figure reported in an independent definitive feasibility study on the Projects as follows:

If the reserve is greater than 1,000,000 ounces then US$6.0M; or
If the reserve is less than 1,000,000 ounces but greater than 500,000 ounces then US$3.0M; or
If the reserve is less than 500,000 ounces but greater than 250,000 ounces then US$1.0M.

DJ & SBK Project: Location

The 55km2 Djelimangara (DJ) and 28km2 Sebessounkoto Sud (SBK) licences are located in western Mali, 2km east of the Company's Korali Sud licence which hosts the Diba gold project. The Projects are approximately 400km northwest of the capital city of Bamako and 90km southwest of the regional capital of Kayes.

DJ & SBK Project: Exploration History

Historical exploration at the Projects includes over 34,000m of drilling (of which 2,681m was diamond drilling and 5,747m was RC drilling), over 6,000 soil samples and airborne VTEM and Induced Polarisation ground geophysical surveys.

Table 1: Selected DJ drilling intercepts from historic drilling (1996 – 2004)

The following historical intersections from the DJ licence are calculated based on a greater than 0.5g/t Au cut-off grade, a 40 g/t top-cap of grades above that grade and where there is ≤ 3m of consecutive internal waste.

Hole ID

From (m)

To (m)

Intersection (m)

Grade (g/t Au)

DJA-96-16

15.30

19.00

3.70

11.05

including

17.00

19.00

2.00

23.97

MDRC04-001

32.00

62.00

30.00

1.84

Including

38.00

42.00

4.00

3.13

44.00

46.00

2.00

1.87

54.00

62.00

8.00

3.71

MDRC04-011

52.00

58.00

6.00

3.32

MDRC04-019

56.00

64.00

8.00

2.28

Including

56.00

58.00

2.00

1.23

62.00

64.00

2.00

7.22

MDRC04-022

30.00

48.00

18.00

1.30

Including

40.00

42.00

2.00

1.21

44.00

48.00

4.00

3.55

DJ & SBK Project: Geology

The Projects lie along the prolific Senegal-Mali shear zone, within the Kofi Series of the Kédougou-Kéniéba Birimian inlier. This inlier hosts the multi-million ounce Sadiola mine and former Yatela mine, each located approximately 20km and 50km to the northwest of the Projects respectively. The Projects are also within the same geological formation as the Loulo & Gounkoto shear zone hosted gold deposits, operated by Barrick Gold Corp. (formerly Randgold Resources Ltd) (NYSE:GOLD, TSX:ABX) which are located approximately 70km to the southeast. The Kofi series includes argillaceous basin sediments metamorphosed to greenschist facies. Syn-tectonic granitoids intrude the Kofi basin and younger northeast trending dolerite dykes are also present. Four phases of deformation characterise the Kédougou-Kéniéba Inlier, the most recent of which manifests as NNW-SSE to NE-SW striking shear zones. Much of the gold mineralisation in the region is associated with these third order structures and dilation jogs related to the Senegal-Mali shear zone.

Qualified Person

The technical disclosure in this regulatory announcement has been read and approved by Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus. He has not verified the historical data disclosed in this regulatory announcement but has no reason to question its accuracy. A graduate of the University of Southampton in Geology (Hons), Steven Poulton also holds a Master's degree from the Camborne School of Mines (Exeter University) in Mining Geology. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and has over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person under the AIM rules and National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

For further information you are invited to visit the Company's website www.altus-strategies.com or contact:

Altus Strategies Plc
Steven Poulton, Chief Executive
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 511 767
E: info@altus-strategies.com

SP Angel (Nominated Adviser)
Richard Morrison / Soltan Tagiev
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470

SP Angel (Broker)
Abigail Wayne / Richard Parlons
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0471

Blytheweigh (Financial PR)
Tim Blythe / Camilla Horsfall
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7138 3204

About Altus Strategies Plc

Altus is a London (AIM: ALS) and Toronto (TSX-V: ALTS) listed project and royalty generator in the mining sector with a focus on Africa. Our team creates value by making mineral discoveries across multiple licences. We enter joint ventures with respected groups and our partners earn interest in these discoveries by advancing them toward production. Project milestone payments we receive are reinvested to extend our portfolio, accelerating our growth. The portfolio model reduces risk as our interests are diversified by commodity and by country. The royalties generated from our portfolio of projects are designed to yield sustainable long-term income. We engage constructively with all our stakeholders, working diligently to minimise our environmental impact and to promote positive economic and social outcomes in the communities where we operate.

Cautionary Note Regarding Historical Data

Readers are cautioned that the data on Sebessounkoto Sud and Djelimangara as referred to in this written disclosure is historical exploration data that has not been verified by a Qualified Person. Not all historical samples are available and Altus does not have complete information on the quality assurance or quality control measures taken in connection with the historical exploration results, or other exploration or testing details regarding these results. There has been insufficient exploration to define a current resource and the Company cautions that there is a risk further exploration will not result in the delineation of a current mineral resource. The historical data should therefore not be relied upon until the Company can confirm it.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include without limitation the completion of planned expenditures, the ability to complete exploration programmes on schedule and the success of exploration programmes. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking information, which speak only as of the date of this news release.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Glossary of Terms
The following is a glossary of technical terms:

"Au" means gold
"g/t" means grams per tonne
"Grade" means the quantity of ore or metal in a specified quantity of rock
"km" means kilometre
"m" means metres
"Shear zone" means a zone in which rocks have been deformed by lateral movement along parallel planes

SOURCE: Altus Strategies Plc

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