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Kobo Resources is a Canadian junior gold exploration company focused entirely on Côte d’Ivoire, where it owns 100% of the Kossou and Kotobi projects. The company’s flagship, Kossou, is an orogenic gold target located just 9 km from a producing mill, with a growing zone of mineralization hosted in deformed greenstone rocks. In a detailed interview with CEO Edouard Gosselin and COO Paul Sarjeant, we covered the company’s origins, leadership, ownership structure, geological model, exploration progress, strategy behind the upcoming mineral resource estimate, approach to metallurgy, handling of artisanal miners, community relations, project risks, and financial outlook—including how they plan to fund a 20,000–30,000 metre drill program in 2025.
TL;DR
- Kobo Resources is exploring a greenstone-hosted gold system at Kossou in Côte d’Ivoire, where mineralization appears structurally controlled and lies close to existing infrastructure.
- The company is early-stage, has drilled less than 15% of its main license, and is planning a 20,000–30,000 metre program to support an initial resource estimate in 2026.
- Insiders own 40% of the stock, but actual market float is estimated at under 10%, which has contributed to low trading liquidity.
- There is significant grade variability in drilling results, and while visible gold is present, metallurgical testing has not yet been completed.
- Kobo will require additional funding to complete its planned drill program and is weighing whether the project has standalone potential or is more suited as a satellite feed source for the nearby Yaouré mine.
Who is Edouard Gosselin and why is he leading a gold company in West Africa?
Edouard Gosselin is a lawyer by background with 40 years of legal experience and two decades of business experience. According to Gosselin, Kobo began as a client advisory project in 2013 when he was helping investors structure an alluvial mining deal in Côte d’Ivoire. After shutting that initial effort down, he claims he engaged directly with the Ministry of Mines and, following the revision of the mining code in 2014, applied for licenses.
Gosselin argues that his fluency in French and familiarity with French-derived legal systems (due to his background in Quebec) gives him an operational advantage in Côte d’Ivoire. He also emphasized Kobo’s early entry, stating they were “the first guys to be awarded these types of licenses under the new code” in 2015.
Why does Kobo have a COO, and what does he do?
Paul Sarjeant serves as Kobo’s Chief Operating Officer. He is a geologist with over 40 years of international experience, including in over 95 countries. According to Sarjeant, he oversees all geological and exploration-related activities for the company. He joined the project in 2016, initially to assess the alluvial potential, which he dismissed as technically unviable based on the state of prior artisanal mining in the area.
He stated that the presence of “a ton of gold” in artisanal concentrates indicated that “something was up” geologically, leading him and Gosselin to pivot the project toward hard rock exploration.
Are insiders financially aligned with shareholders?
Kobo says that insiders, including founders and board members, own 40% of the company’s outstanding shares. Gosselin holds the largest stake, with Sarjeant listed as the third-largest individual shareholder.
When asked about share acquisition costs, Gosselin said that early holdings were acquired at $0.02 to $0.20, tied to the company’s funding rounds. He confirmed that shares were never issued below $0.01, and emphasized that early participants took no salary and covered expenses such as airfare personally.
Are insiders buying in the open market?
Management stated that insider buying in the open market is limited by continuous blackout periods tied to drill results. Due to assay turnaround times and ongoing programs, Gosselin claimed they are “constantly in possession of material information,” making open market purchases difficult.
Recent buying has primarily occurred through the exercise of options. Gosselin mentioned personal share purchases in the fall of 2024 but did not provide specific quantities or prices.
What is Kobo’s share structure and liquidity situation?
As of the most recent reporting, Kobo has approximately 104 million shares outstanding, with a fully diluted count near 131 million. Gosselin estimated that the actual free float is closer to 7–8%, due to the concentration of ownership among insiders and long-term private investors. He attributed the company’s limited liquidity—averaging 25,000 shares traded per day—to this tight structure.
Gosselin acknowledged that increasing market liquidity is a corporate priority and a necessary step for future growth and access to capital markets.
What differentiates Kobo from other juniors?
Gosselin repeatedly emphasized the location of the Kossou project as its primary competitive advantage, citing proximity to the Yaouré mine (9 km by road), paved access, availability of grid power, water, and labor. He argued that this would reduce future capital costs and complexity should the project advance toward production.
The company also highlighted a partnership with Luso Global Mining, a subsidiary of Portuguese EPCM contractor Mota-Engil. Gosselin claimed that Luso’s experience operating across multiple African mines and its financial resources could help Kobo if it decided to pursue mine development, though no such commitment was outlined in detail.
What is the geological model at Kossou?
According to Sarjeant, the Kossou property hosts a typical West African orogenic gold system within a greenstone belt. Mineralization is reportedly controlled by north-south trending shear zones, which are cross-cut by later-stage quartz-carbonate-tourmaline veins believed to carry higher-grade gold.
Sarjeant described the system as “clean,” with limited sulfides and no deleterious elements identified to date. No metallurgical testing has been completed yet, though preliminary work is planned for 2025. The company expects to conduct more extensive metallurgical tests later in the year, ahead of a planned technical report in early 2026.
How advanced is the project and what has been discovered?
Kobo has drilled multiple targets across a ~3 km strike length, primarily focusing on the Jagger, Road Cut, and Kadie zones. They’ve drilled down to approximately 170 metres vertical depth, with plans to test deeper extensions in 2025.
The company has not yet published a mineral resource estimate. Management claims that they are targeting a maiden estimate in early 2026. When pressed on scale, Sarjeant said: “We have million-ounce potential,” though he avoided making any specific claim about current resource size.
Gosselin added that the current footprint being drilled represents only about 15% of the full license area, and the company has additional targets based on historical data and a 2020 magnetic survey.
Is mineralization continuous or variable?
Kobo reports a wide range of grades across zones. The highest single assay was reportedly over 200 g/t, but most intercepts are in the 1–3 g/t range over moderate widths. Sarjeant acknowledged that grade variability is a key issue for modeling and that “we will be capping those high-grade values” in any resource calculation.
Visible gold is present in roughly 20% of drill holes, but its distribution is unpredictable. The company uses oriented diamond drilling and a standardized core-sampling protocol, according to Sarjeant.
Why pursue a resource estimate now?
Gosselin said that while he doesn’t expect the market to fully reward an MRE in current conditions, the company needs to establish a baseline to assess the project’s development potential. He indicated that if results point to a resource below expectations, the company may shift focus or scale back further investment.
“We’re not necessarily in a hurry to unload it,” he said, but emphasized the need to evaluate whether the project supports a standalone mine or could serve as a satellite to Perseus’s operation.
How much capital is needed and do they have it?
The 2025 drill program is estimated to cost approximately $7 million. Kobo currently holds $2.7 million in cash and will need to raise additional capital to complete the program. Management said they can begin drilling in April with current funds and are exploring cost-saving measures, including possibly using their own drill rig via Luso.
What about Kotobi and the earn-in licenses?
Kotobi is an earlier-stage project with no drilling to date. The company is conducting regional geochemical surveys and structural targeting. Total spending is approximately $15,000–$20,000/month.
Kobo has also entered into earn-in agreements with local geologists through a private vehicle called NZDAVE. These licenses are also early-stage and located on the eastern side of the country.
How are social and artisanal mining issues being handled?
Kobo claims to maintain positive relations with local communities, hiring locally and supporting small-scale initiatives such as a regional football tournament. Artisanal miners are present on the license, but Gosselin says illegal activity has been minimal since 2021 and has been addressed via government enforcement.
The company offers informal employment to some artisanal miners as an alternative to unregulated activity.
What are the main risks?
According to Gosselin, execution risk and capital discipline are the biggest concerns. Sarjeant added that the upcoming drilling will clarify whether the resource scale justifies further investment or not. “It’s not drill-to-kill,” Sarjeant said, “but it is drill to understand.”
Kobo Resources CEO Interview
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