i-80 Gold Corp. (TSX: IAU) reported on Monday that CEO and director Ewan Downie, through recent open market purchases, has increased his ownership in the company to approximately 5 million common shares or 2.09%.
i-80 was formed as part of Equinox Gold’s acquisition of Premier Gold Mines in late 2020. The company made its trading debut on the TSX on April 14, 2021.
Since then, Downie, who was Premier’s founder and former boss, has purchased more than 1.4 million shares of i-80, reaching an ownership milestone rarely held by executives of publicly traded companies in the mining sector.
“Since the inception of the company less than one year ago, we have closed multiple major transactions that position i-80 as one of the largest holders of gold and silver resources in Nevada,” Downie commented in Monday’s news release.
“We have secured a strong balance sheet including nearly $200 million in cash and cash equivalents following funding of the previously announced financing package, and have embarked on a peer-best production growth initiative in the world’s most favorable mining jurisdiction,” Downie added.
i-80’s goal is to achieve mid-tier gold producer status through the development of four new open-pit and underground mining operations that will ultimately process ore at the company’s centrally located Lone Tree complex.
Shares of i-80 Gold rose 2.1% by 12:15 p.m. EDT Monday. The US-focused gold miner has a market capitalization of C$652 million.