Mr. Jean-Marc Lacoste reports
MONARQUES GOLD PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON ITS PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES
Production activities at Monarques Gold Corp.'s Beaufor mine will be temporarily suspended as of Dec. 14, 2018. The suspension is primarily due to the low grades of the ore mined at Beaufor in recent quarters, combined with the persistent weakness in the price of gold and difficulties recruiting qualified manpower in the region. As a result, the mine's work force will be cut to around 10 employees, who will be assigned to care and maintenance of the mine and its facilities.
"This decision was necessary for the future of the corporation," said Jean-Marc Lacoste, president and chief executive officer of Monarques. "With the persistent weakness in the gold price and lower-than-expected grades, operations at the Beaufor mine have been challenging in the last two quarters, a situation that had to be corrected at all costs. Over the coming quarters, we will be looking for ways to improve the mining grade while pursuing our exploration activities, which have generated very promising results. Our goal is to restart the Beaufor mine as soon as we are able to ensure that our operations will be profitable."
"We will also step up our efforts to develop Monarques's main asset, the Wasamac gold deposit, which, by using the latest technology, has the potential to become a mine. We will soon issue an update on the status of the Wasamac feasibility study, where we are seeing some very encouraging developments. In terms of operations, it is important to underscore that our custom milling operations at the Camflo mill are growing every quarter and are expected to continue contributing positively to our results," Mr. Lacoste added.
Exploration program and strategy at the Beaufor mine
The new exploration strategy at the Beaufor mine will aim to grow the high-grade gold resource over a longer-term horizon, in order to ensure greater operating profitability.
The many factors leading the corporation to continue exploring at Beaufor, which has produced more than 1.1 million ounces over its lifetime, include the multiple high-grade results obtained since the end of 2017, and the fact that the mine still has excellent exploration potential along strike and at depth.
Along these lines, the corporation has obtained new results from its 2018 drilling program. The results are for a total of 3,220 metres of drilling in 14 exploration holes. Nine of the holes intersected mineralization, including hole 18-150-68A, which returned 10.38 grams per tonne Au over 7.65 metres, including 100.5 g/t Au over 0.5 metre in the QF1 vein. The QF veins generated other significant results, including 84.8 g/t Au over 1.65 metres, 59.45 g/t Au over 0.5 metre, 58.30 g/t Au over 0.5 metre, 32.51 g/t Au over 1.2 metres and 26.50 g/t Au over 0.5 metre. The drill results are summarized in the attached table.
Acquisition of strategic land adjacent to the Wasamac project
On Aug. 24, 2018, Monarques acquired a property next to the Wasamac project to serve as the site of the project's mining facilities. Located farther away from the local community, the property has the added strategic advantage of including a stretch of more than one kilometre along the Trans-Canada Highway and the Ontario Northland Railway, easing transportation logistics for the mined material.
Sale of the East Amphi property royalty to Canadian Malartic GP
On Aug. 21, 2018, the corporation sold its 2-per-cent net smelter return royalty on the East Amphi property to Canadian Malartic GP for the sum of $250,000. The royalty was among the assets acquired from Richmont Mines but did not fit into the corporation's development plans.
Quality control and qualified person
Sampling normally consists of sawing the core into two equal halves along its main axis and shipping one of the halves to Val d'Or for assaying at the ALS geochemistry laboratory, which is fully accredited under ISO 17025. The samples are crushed, pulverized and assayed by fire assay with atomic absorption finish. Results exceeding 10 g/t are reassayed using the gravity method. Certified standards and blanks are inserted into the sampling stream for quality control purposes.
The technical and scientific content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Marc-Andre Lavergne, PEng, the Corporation's qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.
MONARQUES GOLD MEASURED AND INDICATED RESOURCE
Tonnes (metric) Grade (g/t Au) Ounces
Wasamac property (1)
Measured resources 3.99 M 2.52 323,300
Indicated resources 25.87 M 2.72 2,264,500
Total 29.86 M 2.70 2,587,900
Croinor gold mine (2)
Measured resources 80,100 8.44 21,700
Indicated resources 724,500 9.20 214,300
Total 804,600 9.12 236,000
Swanson property (3)
Indicated resources (pit constrained) 1,694,000 1.80 98,100
Indicated resources (underground) 58,100 3.17 5,900
Total 1,752,100 1.85 104,100
McKenzie Break property (4)
Indicated resources (pit constrained) 939,860 1.59 48,133
Indicated resources (underground) 281,739 5.90 53,448
Total 1,221,599 2.58 101,581
Beaufor mine (5)
Measured resources 74,400 6.71 16,100
Indicated resources 271,700 7.93 69,300
Total 346,200 7.67 85,400
Simkar gold property (6)
Measured resources 33,570 4.71 5,079
Indicated resources 208,470 5.66 37,905
Total 242,040 5.52 42,984
Total combined
Measured and indicated resources 3,157,865
(1) Source: Technical report on the Wasamac project, Rouyn-Noranda, Que., Canada,
Tudorel Ciuculescu, MSc, PGeo, Oct. 25, 2017, Roscoe Postle Associates Inc.
(2) Source: Monarques prefeasibility study (Jan. 19, 2018) and resource estimate
(Jan. 8, 2016)
(3) Source: NI 43-101 technical report on the Swanson project, June 20, 2018,
Christine Beausoleil, PGeo, and Alain Carrier, PGeo, MSc, of InnovExplo Inc.
(4) Source: NI 43-101 technical report on the McKenzie Break project, April 17, 2018,
Alain-Jean Beauregard, PGeo, and Daniel Gaudreault, Eng, of Geologica Groupe-Conseil
Inc. and Christian D'Amours, PGeo, of GeoPointCom Inc.
(5) Source: NI 43-101 technical report on the mineral resource and mineral reserve
estimates of the Beaufor mine as at Sept. 30, 2017, Val d'Or, Que., Canada,
Carl Pelletier, PGeo, and Laurent Roy, Eng.
(6) Source: MRB et Associes (January, 2015)
SUMMARY OF EXPLORATION DRILLING RESULTS AT THE BEAUFOR MINE
Project Hole From To Length Grade Zone/vein
(m) (m) (m) (g/t Au)
QH veins 18-150-67a 296.70 297.20 0.50 8.76 N
Zone Q 372.60 373.10 0.50 25.55 QH
QF Veins 409.25 410.90 1.65 84.80 QF
(East sector) incl. 409.75 410.40 0.65 209.00
466.85 467.35 0.50 20.93 QF
472.80 473.35 0.55 11.83 QF1
495.80 496.30 0.50 26.50 QF
18-150-68a 375.15 375.95 0.80 61.75 QH
391.05 391.80 0.75 7.67 QH
403.50 405.00 1.50 11.86 QH2
408.15 408.65 0.50 10.44 QH
483.60 484.10 0.50 59.45 QF
498.15 505.80 7.65 10.38 QF1
incl. 498.15 498.65 0.50 17.03
incl. 501.35 501.85 0.50 22.98
incl. 505.30 505.80 0.50 100.50
518.85 520.60 1.75 6.25 QF
QF veins 18-137-40 19.40 20.00 0.60 5.30 QF
(Centre sector) 23.00 23.50 0.50 58.30 QF
24.60 25.15 0.55 3.80 QF
27.80 28.80 1.00 2.95 QF
143.90 144.40 0.50 2.63 QF
167.45 167.95 0.50 2.13 QF
18-137-41 21.40 21.90 0.50 2.40 QF
39.40 39.90 0.50 8.90 QF
63.40 63.90 0.50 19.58 QF
253.85 254.50 0.65 11.58 QF
18-137-42 - QF1
18-136-84 12.00 14.00 2.00 5.96 QF
23.90 25.10 1.20 32.51 QF
incl. 23.90 24.40 0.50 70.65
QF veins 18-117-46 - QF1
(West sector) 18-117-47 58.25 60.00 1.75 2.22 QF1
incl. 59.50 60.00 0.50 5.52
18-117-48 - QF1
18-117-49 - QF1
18-117-50 - QF1
18-117-51 54.85 56.05 1.20 6.73 QF1
incl. 54.85 55.45 0.60 10.85
173 18-173-18 304.20 305.20 1.00 7.25 F
incl. 304.20 304.70 0.50 13.18
18-173-19 281.00 281.50 0.50 3.62 Between D-F
282.00 283.00 1.00 9.59 Between D-F
309.30 309.80 0.50 10.43 Between D-F
364.60 365.10 0.50 2.11 F
443.80 444.30 0.50 3.97 -
QH: True width corresponds to approximately 85 per cent of the core length.
QF/QF1: True width corresponds to approximately 60 to 95 per cent of the core length.
173: True width corresponds to approximately 75 per cent of the core length.
About Monarques Gold Corp.
Monarques Gold is a mining company focused on pursuing growth through its large portfolio of high-quality gold projects in the Abitibi mining camp in Quebec, Canada. The corporation currently owns close to 300 square kilometres of gold properties, including the Wasamac deposit (measured and indicated resource of 2.6 million ounces of gold), the Beaufor mine, the Croinor Gold, McKenzie Break and Swanson advanced projects, and the Camflo and Beacon mills, as well as six promising exploration projects. It also offers custom milling services out of its 1,600-tonne-per-day Camflo mill.
We seek Safe Harbor.
© 2024 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.