Mines D'Or Orbec Inc. Securityholders Approve Acquisition by IAMGOLD Corporation

On December 15, 2025, Mines D'Or Orbec Inc. ("Orbec") announced that its securityholders had overwhelmingly approved the acquisition of the company by IAMGOLD Corporation by way of a statutory plan of arrangement. The approval rates were 99.96% by shareholders, 99.97% by securityholders as a single class, and 99.93% by minority shareholders. The transaction is expected to close on or about December 22, 2025, subject to final court and regulatory approvals.

Under the arrangement, each Orbec shareholder will receive 0.003466 of an IAMGOLD common share and C$0.0625 in cash. In-the-money options and warrants will be cancelled in exchange for a cash payment.

This news is materially positive as it removes the final significant hurdle from the company's side for the acquisition by IAMGOLD to proceed. The near-unanimous shareholder approval provides high certainty that the deal will close as scheduled.

For Orbec shareholders, this acquisition represents a timely and favorable exit. A chronological review of the company's progress reveals a classic junior exploration story arc that ended not with a discovery, but with a strategic buyout.

• Pre-Deal Context: Throughout 2025, Orbec was focused on its flagship Muus property, emphasizing its geological similarity to IAMGOLD's adjacent Nelligan deposit. After a series of financings at C$0.05 and C$0.07, the company completed a 2,000-metre drill program.
• The Disappointing Results: On September 11, 2025, Orbec released the first drill results. Despite positive framing by management, the assays were low-grade and not economic (e.g., 0.15 g/t Au over 15.8m and 0.20 g/t Au over 17.7m). The market reacted negatively, and the stock price fell.
• The Buyout Lifeline: Just over a month later, on October 20, 2025, IAMGOLD, already a strategic investor with a 9.9% stake, announced its intention to acquire Orbec. The initial offer valued Orbec at C$0.125 per share, a significant premium to the post-drilling results trading price.

Critically, the Q3 financial statements (as of September 30, 2025) showed Orbec was in a precarious financial position with only C$72,865 in cash and a working capital deficiency of C$212,926. Without the acquisition, the company would have faced an immediate need to raise capital through a highly dilutive financing, likely at a depressed valuation given the poor drill results. IAMGOLD's C$500,000 convertible debenture, provided as part of the arrangement, was essential to keep Orbec solvent through the transaction period.

The acquisition is clearly a strategic move by IAMGOLD to consolidate its land package in the Chibougamau district, rather than a purchase based on Orbec's exploration success. For Orbec shareholders, the deal is a bailout that provides immediate value and avoids near-certain further downside and dilution. The shareholder approval solidifies this positive outcome.

Mines D'Or Orbec Inc. is a Canadian junior mineral exploration company. Its flagship asset is the 100%-owned Muus Gold Property, a large 25,250-hectare land package located in the Abitibi greenstone belt near Chibougamau, Quebec. The project is strategically located adjacent to IAMGOLD's Nelligan and Monster Lake gold deposits. The company's exploration thesis was based on discovering similar Nelligan-style, sediment-hosted gold mineralization. After drilling in mid-2025 yielded low-grade results, the company agreed to be acquired by IAMGOLD.