This article has been disseminated on behalf of LaFleur Minerals Inc. and may include a paid advertisement.

NEW YORK, March 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MiningNewsWire Editorial Coverage: Gold prices have surged to record and near-record levels in recent months as persistent inflation concerns, geopolitical uncertainty and strong central-bank demand continue to drive investor interest in the precious metal. Major financial institutions have raised their outlook for bullion, with some analysts forecasting significantly higher prices over the next few years as global debt levels rise and economic volatility persists. In this environment, gold developers and emerging producers are working to strengthen their asset bases and accelerate projects that can respond to strong market conditions. Among those is LaFleur Minerals Inc. (CSE: LFLR) (OTCQB: LFLRF) (Profile), which has taken several notable steps to advance its position within Québec’s prolific Abitibi Gold Belt. The company recently released a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for its Swanson Gold Project sourcing mineralized material from its nearby gold mill, confirmed strong drilling results that reinforce the deposit’s growth potential and continued advancing refurbishment work at its fully permitted Beacon Gold Mill. Together, these developments reflect LaFleur’s strategy of combining exploration success with existing infrastructure as it works toward restarting gold production and strengthening its foothold in a rising gold market. LaFleur joins a strong group of operators in the gold space, including Barrick Mining Corporation (NYSE: B) (TSX: ABX), Cartier Resources Inc. (TSX.V: ECR), Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSX: SEA) (NYSE: SA) and Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) (TSE:WPM.CA).

• LaFleur hits major catalyst with March 2026 positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on the proposed development of the Swanson Gold Deposit, leveraging the company’s 100%-owned Beacon Gold Mill.
• The PEA shows strong economics with C$101 million NPV (5%), 65% IRR and rapid 1.8-year payback at a relatively low C$31 million CAPEX, outlining a capital-efficient, low-complexity mine-to-mill development pathway with strategic CN rail access near Val-d’Or, supporting a scalable, high-return gold production profile.
• Swanson remains the exploration and development engine behind LaFleur’s strategy, reinforced by a refurbished gold mill only 60 kilometers away about to restart production.
• While the PEA and drilling program were advancing the geological and economic case, LaFleur was also progressing toward restarting gold pour at its Beacon Gold Mill.
• Beacon is more than just a processing plant; the mill is fully permitted, wholly owned and already physically in place, with a design capacity of 750 tonnes per day, with optionality to scale to more than 3,000 tonnes per day longer term.
• LaFleur strengthened its financial position after closing C$7.8 million end of last year as it moves towards restarting gold production and shifts into revenue generation.

Click here to view the custom infographic of the LaFleur Minerals editorial.

A Changing Gold World

In the last several months, gold has moved into an unusually strong phase, supported by the same forces that often drive renewed interest in the sector. These forces include persistent geopolitical risk, central-bank buying, inflation concerns and investor demand for hard assets during periods of uncertainty.

“A recent poll of 30 analysts and traders now puts the median gold price forecast for 2026 at $4,746.50 per troy ounce,” reports Finance Magnates. “That same survey a year ago penciled in $2,700 for this year. The gap between those two numbers is, in itself, the story of how fast the world changed.”

Another forecast noted that Wall Street investment banks remain notably bullish on gold’s prospects. “Jefferies is the most aggressive, predicting gold may reach $6,600 per ounce this year” while “Goldman Sachs recently raised its year-end forecast to $5,400 per ounce, up from the previous $4,900, citing diversified private sector investment and heightened demand from central banks. Their report notes the pace of gold's rise has accelerated since 2025 as central banks compete with private investors for the limited supply. Bank of America also increased its short-term gold target to $6,000 per ounce.”

This backdrop matters because stronger bullion prices can materially improve the economics of mine development. When gold rises, projected revenues increase, payback periods can shorten and projects that may have looked less compelling under older price assumptions can move into the “financeable” category.

It also matters because new gold supply is slow to come online. Development timelines in mining are long, and the scarcity of production-ready assets becomes more important when gold prices are moving higher. In that environment, developers with existing infrastructure, defined resources and a realistic near-term path to production can stand out from the wider junior mining universe.

Against that backdrop, LaFleur Minerals has spent the past several months strengthening its position in Québec’s Abitibi Gold Belt through a combination of economic studies, exploration results, mill restart work and financing. The company’s strategy centers on its Swanson Gold Deposit and its wholly owned Beacon Gold Mill, a fully permitted processing facility near Val-d’Or. LaFleur has framed this as a near-term, mine-to-mill development model designed to move the company from exploration and development toward production execution. 

Economic Study Sharpens the Path

A major catalyst in that transition came with LaFleur’s March 3, 2026, Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), led by ERM, on the proposed development of the Swanson Gold Deposit, leveraging the company’s nearby Beacon Gold Mill. The PEA confirmed a “technically straightforward, capital efficient project with significant economic returns,” while also outlining a staged expansion approach intended to lower operating costs over time. The study positioned Swanson and Beacon together as the foundation of a vertically integrated, mine-to-mill, near-term production story rather than a long-dated exploration concept. 

The headline economics were strong. LaFleur reported that the PEA generated an after-tax internal rate of return of 65% and a net present value of C$101 million at a 5% discount rate using a conservative base-case gold price of $2,750 per ounce. The company also cited a rapid 1.8-year payback period, a figure that suggests relatively quick recovery of initial capital if the project performs as modeled. In junior mining, investors often focus closely on internal rate of return, upfront capital needs and payback because those measures help indicate whether a project has a realistic chance of being financed and advanced. 

Capital intensity was another notable piece of the PEA. LaFleur said initial capital was estimated at C$31 million, including ongoing restart and recommissioning work tied to Beacon, while the staged plan contemplated mill expansion to 1,250 tonnes per day. The company also highlighted projected free cash flow generation and described the PEA as a robust business case built around an existing mill in trucking distance from the deposit. That last point is especially important because the cost and time required to build a new plant can be one of the biggest hurdles facing junior developers. 

The resource base used in the study also moved higher. LaFleur reported an updated 2026 mineral resource estimate for Swanson of 2.96 million tonnes at 1.69 grams per tonne gold for 160.3 thousand ounces in the Indicated category and 1.08 million tonnes at 1.93 grams per tonne gold for 66.8 thousand ounces in the Inferred category. The company described that as a 30% increase in Indicated mineral resources, giving the project more scale while also reinforcing the case for a seven-year mine life in the PEA framework. 

Swanson Expands the Development Case

Swanson remains the exploration and development engine behind LaFleur’s strategy. The company describes Swanson as an advanced-stage property in the Abitibi Gold Belt with more than 36,000 meters of historical drilling and an increasingly district-scale footprint. In company materials, LaFleur has emphasized that the project’s combination of historical work, updated resources and multiple target areas gives it room to grow beyond the deposit already outlined in the PEA. 

That land position has also become meaningfully larger. Last year LaFleur reported that the Swanson Gold Project had expanded to 464 mineral claims and one mining lease covering 19,214 hectares. The company described the property as one of the larger land and mineral packages in the southern Abitibi Gold Belt and said the expanded footprint hosts multiple high-potential drill targets. The company also explained that the consolidation extends coverage to more than 33 kilometers of strike length, increasing future exploration opportunity along strike and at depth. 

Recent drilling has added to that story. Earlier this year, LaFleur reported assay results from 12 validation drill holes at Swanson and 28 additional regional exploration holes on the broader property. To date, the company has reported results for 60 drill holes totaling 16,592 meters in its 2025 maiden drilling program. Validation work confirmed strong gold continuity, long mineralized intercepts and new shallow discoveries beyond the current Swanson Deposit footprint, supporting both the geological model and the forthcoming economic work. 

Among the reported highlights was hole SW-25-066, which returned 2.05 grams per tonne gold over 158.25 meters, outlining wide, continuous gold mineralization through this program, which also confirmed continuity and potential near-surface extensions. Notable intersections at Swanson Gold Deposit also included 2.97 grams per tonne gold over 66 meters, including 91.1 grams per tonne gold over 1.5 meters (SW-25-075) and 3.15 grams per tonne gold over 51.4 meters, including 92.9 grams per tonne gold over 0.75 meter (SW-25-077).

LaFleur reported other broad intercepts and higher-grade subintervals in validation drilling, while regional holes outside the main deposit returned intersections such as 1.58 grams per tonne over 11.05 meters and 5.78 grams per tonne over 2.05 meters. These regional results point to the possibility of additional shallow open-pit targets elsewhere on the property, which could matter over time if Swanson evolves into a broader district-scale feed source for Beacon. 

Restart Work Moves Beacon Closer

While the PEA and drilling program were advancing the geological and economic case, LaFleur was also working on the processing side of the equation. Last month, the company said it was progressing toward a gold pour at the Beacon Gold Mill, restarting production operations as soon as Q2 this year, noting that about 30% of the total restart budget had already been spent. LaFleur described the project as remaining under cost control while consistent physical progress continued at the site. 

The company detailed several work streams already completed or well advanced. According to the February update, electrical upgrades and winterization improvements had largely been completed, numerous pumps and material-handling systems had been inspected and prepared for restart, structural integrity inspections had confirmed the plant remained in good condition, and safety-related improvements involving hydroelectric systems, fire protection and security surveillance were in place. Taken together, those steps point to a project that is no longer just conceptual; it is moving through physical recommissioning work. 

LaFleur has previously said the Beacon Mill underwent more than C$20 million in upgrades and modernization before its most recent production, which was in 2022. In the February 2026 release, the company also noted that the mill, Swanson Gold Deposit and related assets are situated centrally within the southern Abitibi Greenstone Belt, reinforcing the operational logic of a local mine-to-mill strategy. That geographic relationship remains central to LaFleur’s stated goal of compressing the timeline between resource delineation and potential production. 

The restart budget itself remains relatively modest. In earlier company disclosures, LaFleur said the six-to-eight-month recommissioning plan was expected to cost roughly C$5 million to C$6 million, with major allocations directed toward mill upgrades and tailings storage facility work. The company has targeted 2026 for renewed production activity, and its February 18 update stated plainly that the business is moving from “exploration and development to gold production execution.” 

Infrastructure Changes the Economics

Beacon is more than just a processing plant; it is one of the key reasons LaFleur’s story looks different from a typical junior developer. The mill is fully permitted, wholly owned and already physically in place, with a design capacity of roughly 750 tonnes per day. LaFleur first announced in September 2024 that it would acquire the fully permitted Beacon Gold Mill and property in the Abitibi Gold Belt, and the acquisition was later completed in October 2024 through the Monarch/Beacon asset purchase process. 

That existing infrastructure appears to have meaningful replacement value. In July 2025, LaFleur reported that an independent valuation by Bumigeme concluded that the full replacement cost of the mill and tailings storage facility, together with permitting costs, was estimated to exceed C$71.5 million. The company also noted that rehabilitation and commissioning costs were estimated at C$4.1 million and that the mill was in excellent condition. Those figures help explain why management continues to frame Beacon as a strategic asset that materially improves project economics. 

The mill’s location also matters. LaFleur has repeatedly emphasized the project’s position in the Val-d’Or area and the broader Abitibi belt, where existing roads, power and mining labor can reduce logistical friction compared with greenfield locations. In its February 2026 release, the company said its mill, tailings pond and Swanson Gold Deposit are centrally situated in the Valley of Gold, while its broader corporate materials describe the strategy as developing district-scale gold projects near Val-d’Or with a focus on near-term production. 

The result is a development model that is less reliant on building everything from scratch. Rather than spending years permitting and constructing a new plant before any production decision can be made, LaFleur is trying to leverage an existing mill to shorten the development timeline. That does not eliminate execution risk, but it does change the capital and scheduling profile in ways that can be important in a rising-gold environment. 

Financing and Strategic Implications

The company has also strengthened its financial position as it moves toward a restart, closing C$7,800,421 total funding for the Beacon restart program and development at Swanson. In a January 26 update, the company said that total was intended to fully fund the restart of gold production at Beacon, giving it added flexibility as work advanced on both the mill and Swanson. 

This matters strategically because financing risk is often one of the biggest obstacles for junior developers. In LaFleur’s case, the combination of completed financing, a positive PEA, an updated resource and active recommissioning work has made the company’s timeline look more feasible than that of many early-stage exploration peers. It also gives the company a stronger platform from which to test bulk-sample and mine-to-mill scenarios from Swanson. 

LaFleur has already advanced one such step. In May 2025, the company began the permitting process for a bulk sample from Swanson of approximately 100,000 tonnes at an estimated average grade of 1.89 grams per tonne gold, containing about 6,350 ounces of gold. The company said this represented roughly 3% of the then-current resource estimate and tied directly into its plan to process material at Beacon. That kind of bulk-sample work can be important because it helps bridge the gap between drilling results and real operating data. 

Finally, LaFleur is operating in a district where corporate interest remains active. In October 2025, Fresnillo agreed to buy Probe Gold for C$780 million, a deal that came amid a sharp rally in gold prices and underscored continued appetite for quality gold assets in established jurisdictions. While LaFleur is not Probe and the companies differ in scale and asset mix, the transaction is a reminder that in a strong gold market, developers with credible projects and infrastructure can attract more attention than they might in a weaker cycle. 

In that sense, LaFleur’s recent progress is less about any single announcement than about the cumulative effect of multiple steps taken over a relatively short period: a larger and better-defined resource at Swanson, a positive ERM-led PEA, active restart work at Beacon, independent valuation support for the mill, bulk-sample planning and funding to push the strategy forward. In a market where gold remains strong and is widely expected to stay elevated, those developments have moved LaFleur closer to the category investors often watch most closely: companies attempting to turn a development story into a production story. 

Gold Sector Builds New Momentum

The global mining industry continues to generate momentum as exploration success, project advancement and strategic agreements highlight the sector’s ongoing evolution. Across major mining jurisdictions, companies are reporting encouraging developments that underscore the importance of resource discovery, technical validation and disciplined investment in building the next generation of long-life mineral assets.

Barrick Mining Corporation (NYSE: B) (TSX: ABX) reported that updated studies indicate that its Nevada-based Fourmile project is cementing its position as one of the century’s greatest gold discoveries. Backed by ongoing 2025 evaluation results and the 2024 mineral resource, the new preliminary economic assessment (PEA) underscores Fourmile’s rare combination of grade, scale and exploration upside, confirming its potential to become one of the world’s leading gold producers. Barrick’s studies are progressing well and continue to confirm the attributes that make this orebody so valuable, namely the grade, significant tonnage and large-scale stoping fronts.

Cartier Resources Inc. (TSX.V: ECR) announced the eighth batch of results from the 100,000-m drilling program (two drill rigs), for the Nordeau Sector and more precisely, the East Nordeau Zone (ENZ), on the 100%-owned Cadillac Project, located in Abitibi, Quebec. The ENZ consists of two parallel high-grade gold zones — EN1 and EN2 — which are spaced approximately 25 meters apart. Next steps for the project include further expansion drilling that will significantly refine the geological model, verify the mineralization continuity and determine the gold enrichment, with additional exploration drilling required to test several new high-priority regional targets along the strike of the Nordeau Sector and the Cadillac Fault Zone.

Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSX: SEA) (NYSE: SA) released robust results from its inaugural metallurgical test program on drill core samples from the Snip North Deposit, one of the targets on its wholly owned Iskut Gold-Copper Project in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle. The program confirms that Snip North mineralization responds very well to conventional flotation and excellent recoveries can be expected. Highlights of the report indicate that a total of 10 drill-core interval samples and four composite samples from the Snip North deposit taken from the 2025 exploration program have been tested at ALS Metallurgy, representing the first systematic metallurgical assessment of the Snip North deposit.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) (TSE:WPM.CA) subsidiary, Wheaton Precious Metals International Ltd. (WPMI), has entered into a definitive Precious Metals Purchase Agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of BHP Group Limited for their 33.75% portion of the silver produced at the Antamina Mine located in Peru. Upon closing, Wheaton will receive a combined 67.5% of all the silver produced from Antamina, up from the 33.75% currently delivered under the existing Glencore silver stream. “Wheaton has grown into the company we are today by entering into stream agreements on world class operations and adding exceptional assets to our portfolio, and Antamina has long stood as one of our true cornerstones,” said Wheaton Precious Metals president Haytham Hodaly.

These highlights represent a broader trend within the mining sector toward strengthening project pipelines while securing access to high-quality resources. As exploration programs expand, metallurgical testing advances and strategic transactions reshape asset portfolios, industry participants are positioning themselves to meet long-term demand for precious and critical minerals in an increasingly resource-focused global economy.

For more information, visit LaFleur Minerals Inc.

Qualified Person Statement – All scientific and technical information contained in the LaFleur Minerals Market Awareness Profile (MAP) has been reviewed and approved by Louis Martin, P.Geo. (OGQ), Exploration Manager and Technical Advisor of the company and considered a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101.

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