Canadian precious metals explorer and developer Montage Gold on Friday announced an upsized private placement financing of C$35-million.

The company, which is listed on the TSX-V, increased its private placement financing to 50-million shares at C$0.70 a share. The proceeds will be used for the Kone gold project, in Côte d'Ivoire.

The upsized financing announcement followed a day after Montage unveiled a new leadership team and C$20-million nonbrokered financing, including a strategic investment by the Lundin Family Trust, as it seeks to transform into a multi-asset African gold producer.

Martino De Ciccio has been appointed as CEO, Peder Olsen has been appointed as chief development officer, and Ron Hochstein has been appointed to the board of directors, effective immediately. 

De Ciccio and Olsen were both involved in Endeavour Mining.

Richard Clark, co-founder and current CEO, stepped down from his CEO role and will remain as a director of the company.

"I am very excited to join Montage with the goal of creating a leading multi-asset African gold producer and I am thrilled to begin this new endeavour with the strong support of the Lundin Group, in addition to Barrick, Endeavour and Perseus, along with an experienced construction team led by Peder.

"We are excited to advance the development of the large-scale Koné project in Côte d'Ivoire, which already contains more than four-million ounces of gold in probable mineral reserves, given its attractive economics and significant regional exploration potential.

"Over the course of the last six months, we have conducted extensive due diligence on the Koné project, including site visits and engagement with local communities and government stakeholders. We are very pleased with the overwhelmingly positive support received and look forward to leveraging our experience in the region to unlock significant value for all our stakeholders," said De Ciccio.