Monarch Mining Intersects 24.70 G/T Au Over 0.6 M, 17.70 G/T Au Over 1.2 M And 1.79 G/T Au Over 21.0 M During Exploration Drilling On Croinor Gold

• Monarch has completed a 5,286-metre (26-hole) drilling program on its wholly-owned Croinor Gold property, focused on exploration targets outside the deposit and current mineral resource envelope.
• High-grade mineralization intersected in the Bug Lake area includes 24.70 g/t Au over 0.6 m in hole CR-20-706 and 17.70 g/t au over 1.2 m in hole CR-20-713.
• Broader zones of lower-grade mineralization were intersected in the Bug Lake area, including 1.79 g/t Au over 21.0 m in hole CR-20-710 and 2.32 g/t Au over 9.6 m in hole CR-20-711.
• High-grade mineralization within the recently acquired Busmac claims included 16.9 g/t Au over 0.4 m intersected in hole CR-20-703.
• Anomalous gold mineralization was traced for several hundred metres along strike within the Croinor and Busmac horizons.
• Semi-massive sulphides were intersected over 7 metres in the northwest part of the property.

Montreal, Québec, Canada, May 18, 2021 – MONARCH MINING CORPORATION (“Monarch” or the “Corporation”) (TSX: GBAR) (OTCMKTS: GBARF) is pleased to announce it has completed the exploration diamond drilling program on its wholly-owned Croinor Gold project, located 55 kilometres east of Val-d’Or, Québec. The results include several significant intersections as Monarch continues to explore this vast property covering 25 kilometres of favourable stratigraphy.

The 2020-2021 diamond drilling program totalled 5,286 metres in 26 holes. It focused entirely on exploration targets outside the currently defined resource envelope of the Croinor Gold deposit.

The best high-grade drill results for the Bug Lake Zone include 24.70 g/t Au over 0.6 m in hole CR-20-706 and 17.70 g/t Au over 1.2 m in hole CR-20-713, within a broader zone of 9.28 g/t Au over 3.2 m. This showing is located over 500 m east of and stratigraphically above the Croinor Gold deposit. The mineralization in hole CR-20-706 consists of visible gold hosted in quartz veins with tourmaline.

Several holes drilled on the Bug Lake Zone also intersected broader zones of lower-grade gold mineralization. This includes 1.79 g/t Au over 21.0 m in hole CR-20-710 and 2.32 g/t Au over 9.6 m in hole CR-20-711. The Bug Lake Zone has currently been tested by diamond drilling over a strike length of 250 m and down to a vertical depth of approximately 250 m.

Significant mineralization was intersected in the area of the Busmac showing, located 4.5 km west of and stratigraphically below the Croinor Gold deposit. Historical resources at Busmac (neither NI 43-101 compliant nor verified by Monarch’s qualified person), as reported in Sigeom (mineral deposit 32C/03-0020), include 8,200 tonnes averaging 17.5 g/t Au and a second zone of 8,000 tonnes averaging 6.8 g/t Au. Assay results from Monarch’s 2020-2021 drilling program in the area of the Busmac showing include 16.9 g/t Au over 0.4 m. Wide step-out drilling along strike of the Busmac horizon, approximately 1,000 metres to the southeast, returned 1.12 g/t Au over 4.2 m, indicating that the mineralized system is open and shows regional continuity.

Hole CR-21-715, drilled in the far northwest part of the property, intersected semi-massive sulphides over a core length of 7 m. The sulphide mineralization is associated with a local magnetic high and is less than 1 km from the Realore showing (Sigeom, mineral showing 2133), which assayed up to 21.03 g/t Au and 0.76% Cu.

“We are very pleased with the results of this exploration drill program, in that we have confirmed the presence of mineralization in several areas outside of the main Croinor Gold deposit,” said Jean-Marc Lacoste, President and Chief Executive Officer of Monarch. “We will continue to focus on advancing the development of the Croinor Gold deposit while at the same time exploring other showings in this vast land package covering multiple favourable horizons over more than 25 km of strike length.”

Other significant results are shown in Figure 1 and Table 1, below.

Figure 1: Croinor property with 2020-2021 drill results.

Table 1: Significant assay results

Table 2: Drill hole location

Sampling consists of sawing the NQ-size core into equal halves along its main axis and shipping one of the halves to the AGAT Laboratories in Mississauga, Ontario, for assaying. The samples are crushed, pulverized and assayed by fire assay, with atomic absorption finish. Results exceeding 3.0 g/t Au are re-assayed using the gravity method, and samples containing visible gold grains are assayed using the metallic screen method. Monarch uses a comprehensive QA/QC protocol, including the insertion of standards and blanks.
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About Croinor Gold

Monarch Mining holds a 100% interest in the Croinor Gold property, which consists of one mining lease and 337 claims covering over 151.9 km2. The property includes a mineral resource estimate of 804,600 tonnes at an average grade of 9.12 g/t Au for 236,000 ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated category, along with 160,800 tonnes at an average grade 7.42 g/t Au for 38,400 ounces in the Inferred category. The mineral resource does not include the results for holes drilled after November 2015, which represents 59,000 metres of drilling in 254 holes.

On January 19, 2018, Monarch Gold Corporation announced the positive results of the pre-feasibility study prepared by InnovExplo Inc. The results of the pre-feasibility study show that the Croinor project is economically viable and has the potential to become a low-cost mine.

Pre-feasibility study highlights:

• Pre-tax internal rate of return of 47.56%, net present value of $32 million.
• Cash production cost of $818/ounce (US$639/ounce) and total production cost of $1,155/ounce (US$902/ounce).
• Based on a gold price of US$1,280 and an exchange rate of 1.28 CAD/1 USD.
• The study does not include holes drilled after November 2015 (59,000 metres in 254 holes).
  

The technical report summarizing the results of the pre-feasibility study can be viewed on Monarch's website.

The Croinor Gold deposit is hosted in the Croinor Sill, a synvolcanic intrusion that has been traced along strike by drilling for over 2.4 km. Mineralization is hosted in quartz-carbonate-tourmaline-pyrite veins that can be traced from several tens of metres up to 600 metres.

Table 3: Resources Estimate for the Croinor Gold deposit at the selected cut-off grades

Notes:

1. The Independent Qualified Persons for the Mineral Resource Estimate, as defined by NI 43-101, are Karine Brousseau, Eng., and Carl Pelletier, B.Sc., P.Geo. (InnovExplo Inc.); the effective date of the estimate is November 6, 2015.
2. Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability.
3. The results are presented undiluted and in situ; the estimate includes 51 gold-bearing zones, some of which contain resources below the cut-off grade.
4. The Mineral Resource was compiled at cut-off grades of 3, 4 and 5 g/t Au; however, the official resource is at a cut-off grade of 4 g/t.
5. The cut-off grade should be reviewed in the light of prevailing market conditions (gold price, exchange rate and mining cost).
6. A density of 2.8 g/cm3 was used for the mineralized zones and the waste rock.
7. A minimum true thickness of 1.8 m was applied, using the grade of the adjacent material when assayed, or else a grade of zero.
8. High-grade capping was applied to the raw assay data, and was established at 70 g/t Au for the diamond drill core and 55 g/t Au for the underground channel samples.
9. Compositing was done on drill hole sections and underground channel sections falling within the mineralized zones (composite = 1 metre).
10. Resources were estimated using GEOVIA GEMS 6.7 software from diamond drill holes and underground channel samples using an ID6 interpolation method in a block model (block size 5m x 2.5m x 2.5m).
11. The Measured, Indicated and Inferred categories were defined using the parameters for the various passes.
12. Isolated blocks in the Indicated category showing no spatial continuity in terms of grade and/or information density were reclassified from Indicated to Inferred.
13. Blocks in the Inferred category showing good spatial continuity in terms of grade and/or information density were reclassified from Inferred to Indicated.
14. Ounce (troy) = Metric Tons x Grade / 31.10348. Metric units (metres, tonnes and g/t) were used in the estimate.
15. The tonnage estimate was rounded to the nearest hundred tonnes. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to the rounding effect; rounding followed the recommendations in Form 43-101F1.

The technical and scientific content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Louis Martin, P.Geo., the Corporation’s qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.

About Monarch

Monarch Mining Corporation (TSX: GBAR) is a fully integrated mining company that owns four advanced projects, including the fully permitted past-producing Beaufor Mine, which has produced more than 1 million ounces of gold over the last 30 years. Other advanced assets include the Croinor Gold, McKenzie Break and Swanson properties, all located near Monarch’s wholly owned and fully permitted 750 tpd Beacon mill. Monarch owns 28,725 hectares (287 km2) of mining assets in the prolific Abitibi mining camp that host 588,482 ounces of combined measured and indicated gold resources and 329,393 ounces of combined inferred resources.

Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements in this press release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Monarch’s actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied therein. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

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Table 4: Monarch combined gold resources

1 Source: Monarch Gold prefeasibility study (January 19, 2018) and resource estimate (January 8, 2016). This resource was completed for Monarch Gold and has not been reviewed by a qualified person for Monarch Mining as required under National Instrument 43-101 and is thus considered as an historical estimate.

2 Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Beaufor Mine, December 18, 2020, Val-d’Or, Québec, Canada, Carl Pelletier, P. Geo., InnovExplo Inc. and John Langton, P. Geo., JPL GeoServices Inc.

3 Source: NI 43-101 Technical Evaluation Report on the McKenzie Break Property, February 1, 2021, Val-d’Or, Québec, Canada, Alain-Jean Beauregard, P.Geo., Daniel Gaudreault, P.Eng., Geologica Groupe-Conseil Inc., and Merouane Rachidi, P.Geo., Claude Duplessis, P.Eng., GoldMinds GeoServices Inc.

4 Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Swanson Project, January 22, 2021, Val-d’Or, Québec, Canada, Christine Beausoleil, P. Geo. and Alain Carrier, P. Geo., InnovExplo Inc.

5 Numbers may not add due to rounding.

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