Precious metals miner Fortuna Mining last month acquired 15 037 593 common shares of TSX Venture Exchange-listed mineral exploration company Awalé Resources by entering into an investor rights agreement with Awalé.

Awalé is advancing its fully owned properties at the Odienné project, in Côte d’Ivoire.

Awalé, under the terms of the buy-in agreement, will use the net proceeds of the share transaction to fund expanded exploration activities across its 100%-owned Odienné properties that total 1 549 km², where Awalé is advancing multiple gold and copper/gold targets with iron-oxide/copper/gold-style mineralisation potential.

“Awalé’s Odienné project represents a compelling opportunity for Fortuna in Côte d’Ivoire,” says Fortuna senior VP Paul Weedon, adding that Fortuna’s experienced in-country exploration team is well positioned to help advance discoveries through to production.

Awalé, he says, has built a strong presence in this emerging district and, through a capable and active team, developed a solid geological understanding across the portfolio.

While there is copper in the Odienné system – as it is geologically associated with gold and is considered a by-product in this context, similar to that of Fortuna’s Lindero mine, in Argentina – diversifying Fortuna’s reserves to include copper is not a strategic focus for the company at this time.

The shares were acquired for investment purposes and “Fortuna may acquire additional securities of Awalé or dispose of its existing securities of Awalé on the basis of Fortuna’s assessment of market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors, in each case in accordance with applicable securities regulatory requirements”, adds Weedon.

Under the terms of the investor rights agreement, Fortuna has been granted, among other elements, pre-emptive rights to maintain its interest in Awalé through participation in future equity financings and top-up rights to buy additional shares to maintain its interest in Awalé.

Fortuna will have such investor rights for as long as it holds an interest in Awalé of 10% or more, which was calculated in accordance with the terms of the agreement.

“We look forward to supporting exploration across Awalé’s properties at the Odienné project with the benefit of their insights,” Weedon says, concluding that this investment strengthens Fortuna’s exploration pipeline in Côte d’Ivoire and is aligned with the company’s long-term growth strategy.