IAMGOLD to Commence Drilling at Dalafin

31 May 2018

Stratex International Plc

('Stratex' or 'the Company')

IAMGOLD to Commence Drilling at Dalafin

Stratex, the AIM-quoted gold-focused exploration and development company in Turkey and Africa, is pleased to announce that IAMGOLD Corporation ('IAMGOLD') has completed its preliminary studies at the Company's 85%-owned Dalafin gold project ('Dalafin' or the 'Project') in Senegal. The mobilisation of drilling equipment to site is nearing completion and IAMGOLD will shortly commence a 5,750m Air Core ("AC"), Reverse Circulation ("RC") and diamond core drilling programme at the Madina Bafé prospect ('Madina Bafè' or the 'Prospect') in the south of the licence area.

Highlights

- IAMGOLD focusing on exploration at Madina Bafé prospect as part of initial US$4M earn-in to 51% of the Project;

- Full review of historical diamond drill core and RC chips completed;

- Regolith mapping completed and currently being digitised;

- Exploration drilling programme at the Madina Bafe to commence shortly, comprising:

o 3,000m AC drilling for 570 holes to assess geochemical signature of the bedrock and define mineralised corridors;

o 2,000m RC drill holes to test previously-defined mineralised trends and best AC anomalies;

o 750m diamond core drilling to test previous drilling results.

Tim Livesey, CEO of Stratex, commented:

"We are delighted to see the development of such a robust work programme and that IAMGOLD are moving ahead so quickly on the earn-in. We look forward to strong news flow on Dalafin over the coming months."

Further Information

IAMGOLD will shortly embark on a 5,750m drilling programme at Dalafin following the signing earlier this year of an US$8M option earn-in agreement (the 'Agreement') on Dalafin with AGEM Senegal Exploration Suarl ('AGEM'), a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAMGOLD (Announcement dated 1 March 2018) and the subsequent receipt of Ministerial approval for the Agreement (Announcement dated 26 March 2018).

Under the terms of the Agreement, AGEM is earning-in to an initial 51% interest in the Project by expending US$4m on exploration over 4 years and has the further option to increase its interest to 70% by expending an additional US$4m over the subsequent 2 years. IAMGOLD is initially focusing on exploring the southernmost Madina Bafé prospect which is contiguous with its Boto gold project, where it has defined Indicated and Inferred Resources of 2.52 million ounces grading 1.61 g/t Au (inclusive of Proven and Probable Reserves of 1.4 million ounces grading 1.64 g/t Au). Stratex's previous work at Madina Bafé has included trenching, mapping, and sampling programmes that have confirmed the presence of a 1,200 m x 30-45 m northeast-striking mineralised zone in the south-east of the prospect, with mineralisation comprising sheeted tourmaline-quartz veins and quartz-tourmaline breccias. RC and diamond core drilling by Stratex returned excellent intersections including 15m @ 6.10 g/t Au (MBRC117) and 9.6 m @ 16.08 g/t Au and 1.5 m @ 2.84 g/t Au (MBDD-002) that indicate depth-continuity of the zone (Announcement dated 16 July 2014).

Since signing the Agreement in March, IAMGOLD has undertaken a review of existing diamond drill core and RC chip samples for Madina Bafé and has completed a number of traverses to assess the regolith across the Prospect. Observations from these traverses are currently being compiled and a final map produced.

IAMGOLD has completed line clearing at Madina Bafé and the mobilisation of drilling equipment is nearing completion ahead of commencing an initial 3,000m AC drilling programme for 570 holes, on a 50m by 200 line spacing. Samples collected at the bedrock interface will be analysed for multi-element geochemistry and low-level gold in order to assess the geochemical signature of the bedrock, help depict alteration corridors and mineralisation trends, and define targets for follow-up deeper drilling.

RC (2,000m) and diamond core (750m) drilling will test the depth and strike extension of the mineralisation and will take place after all targets (existing and those defined during current AC drilling) have been assessed and ranked. This will include two diamond holes to confirm mineralisation previously-reported in holes MBDD002 and MBRC117.

For more information on the Project, including a drill plan, please visit http://www.stratexinternational.com/project/dalafin.

** ENDS **

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Following the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

For further information please visit www.stratexinternational.com, @StratexPLC on Twitter, 

or contact:

Notes to Editors:

Since listing in 2006, Stratex has discovered more than 2.2 million ounces of gold and 7.09 million ounces of silver, as well as 186,000 tonnes of copper. The Company owns an exciting exploration project in Senegal and 14.87% of a copper-gold project at feasibility stage in Turkey, which will likely default to a 1.2% (post-Turkish tax) royalty position within the next 3 months. The Company also has significant interests in Thani Stratex Resources Ltd and Tembo Gold Corp. for their exploration projects in Djibouti and Egypt, and Tanzania respectively. The Company is currently pursuing value-accretive opportunities within its existing portfolio as well as identifying new value-appropriate projects in Africa and Europe.