Maryse Belanger, who is currently chairperson of Iamgold, has stepped in as interim president and CEO of the mid-tier miner to address “significant” near- and mid-term challenges, both at Côté development project and in terms of liquidity.

The company on Tuesday reported a costs blowout at Côté, in Ontario, stating that preliminary cost estimates from an ongoing risk analysis indicate that the project would require  between $1.2-billion and $1.3-billion to complete.

As such, the TSX-listed miner suspended its 2022 and 2023 Côté project costs guidance and said it would provide a detailed updated costs and schedule estimate before the end of the second quarter.

Iamgold broke ground on Côté, a 70:30 joint venture with Sumitomo Metal Mining, in September 2020. At the time, the project’s costs were estimated to be in the $875-million to $925-million range.

“Given the complexity of the business from both an operational and project development standpoint, in addition to the need to actively investigate financing measures, further management capacity is needed to bridge the gap until a search for a permanent CEO is concluded. As a result, I have agreed to step in as interim president and CEO,” Belanger said.

She took over from CFO and executive VP of strategy and corporate development, Daniella Dimitrov, who acted as CEO after Gordon Stothart quit in January this year.

“I am confident we will address these near-term challenges and we remain fully focused on our goal of becoming a leading high-margin gold producer,” said Belanger.

Meanwhile, Iamgold reported good results for the first quarter, resulting mainly from a solid operating performance at Essakane, in Burkina Faso. The company reported attributable gold production of 174 000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost of $1 490/oz. This compared with output of 153 000 oz in the fourth quarter and 156 000 oz in the first quarter of 2021.

Adjusted net earnings increased to $26.1-million, from $6.2-million a year earlier, but was down from $44.3-million in the fourth quarter.