
Martino De Ciccio
CEO: Montage Gold
‘Time is money, but time is also dilution. We’re going fast’
MONTAGE Gold spent more than a year scanning Africa for a gold deposit before landing on Koné, a four-million-ounce prospect situated 600km north-west of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire. However, the company has moved with speed as intended by CEO De Ciccio. Time is money, he says. True enough, but he also believes time equals share price dilution. In other words, it’s imperative that Montage expedites mining while the gold market is buoyant. It was also with a view to protecting the firm’s share that instead of issuing equity, De Ciccio financed Koné by selling a portion of its gold forward.
Some $625m of a total $825m in project financing will see Canadian royalty company Wheaton Precious Metals buy 19.5% of Koné’s output at a hefty price discount. For instance, when the spot price of gold is $2,200/oz, Wheaton will pay $440/oz. While it’s a cost for Montage, it is cheaper than shares and – De Ciccio would argue – Montage still has a heap of spot price exposure as Koné is scoped to produce 300,000oz/year for the first eight years of its 16-year life. Mine construction is scheduled for the first quarter. A 27-month build will be “compressed” to two years.
De Ciccio has past form in Côte d’Ivoire as a former executive of Endeavour Mining; in fact, all of Montage’s executive committee members were Endeavour people at a point in their careers. As for the board, it has heavy hitters including its chairperson Ron Hochstein, CEO of Lundin Gold, which is a 19.9% shareholder along with Zijin Mining (9.9%) and Barrick.
LIFE OF MARTINO
A chartered accountant with a degree from Canada’s McGill University, De Ciccio earned his stripes at La Mancha, the investment company founded by Egyptian telecoms and mining mogul, Naguib Sawiris. De Ciccio then jumped directly into mining, becoming head of strategy for seven years at Endeavour, which La Mancha had helped finance in the gold miner’s early years. He was then appointed Endeavour's deputy CFO for a year. De Ciccio joined Montage last February. He is also a non-executive at Bluestone Resources and Northisle Copper and Gold.