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Monarch holds a 100% interest in the Beaufor Mine, which includes two mining leases, a mining concession and 23 mining claims covering an area of 6.91 km². The mine is located at about 20 kilometres northeast of the town of Val-d’Or, in the Abitibi-East township, in the Province of Quebec. The Beaufor Mine is an underground mine.
On June 27, 2019, production activities at the Beaufor Mine have been temporarily suspended and the mine was placed on care and maintenance.
On May 7, 2020, Monarch announced that it has signed an agreement with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to sell a 3% net smelter return royalty on gold production at the Beaufor Mine for $5 million.
The planned exploration program will be one of the largest exploration programs ever undertaken on the Beaufor property, consisting of approximately 270 drill holes for a total of 42,500 metres (see Beaufor Presentation). Exploration drilling will be done in several phases, including:
This initial phase, representing the bulk of the exploration drilling, will focus on the underground near-mine targets defined by the recent 3D modelling (see Figure 1). These holes will test areas near historical high-grade drill intersections and areas associated with known vein structures that remain open. These targets are all defined by high-grade intersections located near the existing underground infrastructure, thus requiring minimal development for mining purposes. They are also all located above the mine’s lowest development level (above 900 metres). These targets can easily be tested from the available underground workings, with the majority of the holes less than 200 metres long.
The second type of target related to underground near-mine targets will be the follow-up of isolated resource blocks that still have significant room for expansion. These resource blocks are typically defined by a single drill hole along a known mineralized structure, but continuity has not been demonstrated due to a lack of nearby drilling.
The second type of target related to underground near-mine targets will be the follow-up of isolated resource blocks that still have significant room for expansion. These resource blocks are typically defined by a single drill hole along a known mineralized structure, but continuity has not been demonstrated due to a lack of nearby drilling.
A program of exploration drilling of the area below the current mine workings (below 900 metres) will be undertaken to continue testing the extension of the known mineralization at depth, where mining left off prior to the temporary shutdown (see Figure 3). Recent wide-spaced drilling below the bottom of the mine has confirmed the extension of the mineralization. The planned drilling will target specific areas defined by previous high-grade intersections in an area extending down to 230 metres below the current workings.
The final phase of the exploration drilling will consist of surface drill holes to test regional targets defined by historical intersections and potential structures beyond the current limits of the underground infrastructure (see Figure 4).
The Beaufor deposit is included in the Bourlamaque granodiorite. Gold mineralization occurs in veins associated with shear zones that moderately dip south. The mineralization is associated with quartz-tourmaline veins resulting from the filling of shear and extension fractures. The gold-bearing veins show a close association with mafic dykes intruding on and undercutting the granodiorite. The dykes seem to have influenced the structural control of the gold-bearing veins.
Gold-bearing veins at the Beaufor Mine consist of quartz-tourmaline-pyrite veins, typical of Archean epigenetic lode gold deposits, that cross-cut the Bourlamaque Batholith. Mafic dykes that predate the mineralization are associated with shear- hosted gold-bearing veins. Shallowly dipping extensional gold-bearing veins are commonly observed at the Beaufor Mine. Shear zones striking N70o and dipping steeply to the southwest control the opening and gold enrichment of veins.
All the gold-bearing veins are contained in a strongly-altered granodiorite in the form of chlorite-silica forming anastomosing corridors of 5 m to 30 m in thickness. The veins at the Beaufor Mine form sometimes panels of more than 300 m in length by 350 m in height. The thickness of the veins varies from 5 cm to 5 m, but generally, the thickness of the quartz veining system 30 cm to 120 cm. The zones are limited by the Beaufor fault (N115o/65o-75o) and by a parallel system of shears (N70o/sub vertical).
Monarch holds a 100% interest in the Croinor Gold property, which consists of one mining lease for a total of 337 claims over a 151.88 km² area. The property is located approximately 55 km east of Val-d'Or (75 km by road) and 27 km east of Louvicourt, the nearest town.
The Croinor Gold property is located in the eastern part of the Archean Abitibi Greenstone Belt in the southern Superior Province of the Canadian Shield.The Abitibi Greenstone Belt is one of the most extensive continuous expanses of low metamorphic grade Archean volcanic and sedimentary rocks in the world.
The Croinor Gold property is underlain by two major lithological packages—the dominantly volcanic Assup Domain in the north and the dominantly sedimentary Garden Island Domain in the south. The Assup Domain is further divided into the mafic volcanic Aurora Group in the south and the mafic to intermediate volcanic Assup Group in the north (dominantly mafic). The Pershing Batholith overlaps the southwest end of the property. The Croinor Gold property is transected by the Garden Island Deformation Corridor in a northwest-southeast direction, which overprints and partially follows the contact between the Assup and Garden Island domains.
The Croinor Gold deposit is hosted by the synvolcanic Croinor Sill. This dioritic sill is from 60 to 120 m thick and hosted within volcanic rocks of the Assup Domain. The deposit is characterized by gold-rich lenses consisting of quartz-carbonate-tourmaline-pyrite veins, altered pyritic host rock material, and/or tectonic breccia (pyritic host fragments within a quartz-carbonate-tourmaline-pyrite vein).
The mineralized lenses range from 60 to 120 m long. The lenses can generally be followed from one section to another (10 m sections) over lateral distances varying from several tens of m up to 600 m. To date, about 40 gold-rich lenses have been identified.
Many other showings have been explored to a degree ranging from trenching to drilling. In most cases, gold mineralization is found in vein systems within or associated with dyke, sill or pluton intrusives within the volcanics.
The known showings are Gold Bug, Croinor-Trench 2, Bug Lake, Pershon, Rocheleau-3, Rocheleau-5, T13, Kenda Pershing, Ansley, Onyx-Tavernier, Jolin and Brett-Tretheway.
Monarch acquired a 100% interest in the McKenzie Break property from Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM, TSX:AEM). The property hosts a high-grade gold deposit that lies just 20 kilometres north of the Beacon mill and 35 kilometres north of Val-d'Or, Quebec. It consists of 169 mineral claims covering a total area of 70.7 km², and is accessible year-round via Route 397 and a gravel road. The property is also about nine kilometres south of the rail link between Barraute and Senneterre.
The McKenzie Break property is located in an area with existing infrastructure and several mills. It has surface and underground infrastructure, including a ramp down to a depth of 80 metres below surface.
The resource estimate is based on a database of 333 drill holes, 57,789 metres of drilling and 34,026 assays. A total of 30 mineralized envelopes were modelled and validated. Capping was applied to raw assays before compositing, with grades capped at 60 g/t Au for the mineralized zones. The independent and qualified persons for the mineral resource estimate, as defined by NI 43101, are Merouane Rachidi, P.Geo., and Claude Duplessis, Eng., of GoldMinds Geoservices.
Monarch acquired a 100% interest in the Swanson property from Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM, TSX:AEM). The property hosts a gold deposit located 65 kilometres from the Beacon mill and 12 kilometres northeast of Barraute, Quebec. It consists of one mineral lease and 127 claims covering a total area of 51.26 km², as well as a 500-metre ramp down to a depth of 80 metres. The property is accessible year-round via Route 367 and a gravel road. A railway track also crosses the property, as does a transmission line.
The resource area within the deposit measures 500 m along strike, 400 m wide and 500 m deep. The estimate is based on a database of 209 drill holes (146 surface holes and 63 underground holes) and 10,000 assays. Grades were capped at 15 g/t Au for the mineralized zones and 4 g/t Au for the dilution envelope. Capping was applied to raw assays before compositing. The mineral resource was estimated using a minimum cut-off grade for two combined potential extraction scenarios: constrained pit and underground. Cut-off grades of 0.75 g/t Au for constrained pit and 2.40 g/t Au for underground were defined based on a gold price of CA$2,160 and an exchange rate of 1.34 USD/CAD. The independent and qualified persons for the mineral resource estimate, as defined by NI 43101, are Christine Beausoleil, P.Geo., and Alain Carrier, P.Geo., of InnovExplo.
The Beacon Mill has a 750 tpd capacity. The mill is located on a property that consists of a mining lease, a mining concession, and 11 mining claims covering an area of 1.8 km2. The property also has tailings management ponds, underground installations, a 500-metre deep shaft and a mechanical shop. The plant is located in Val-d’Or on highway 117 at less than 10km from the Beaufor Mine and at proximity to the railway system.
The Beacon Mill is fully permitted, including a certificate of authorization by the ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques for the processing of 1,800,000 tonnes of tailings, equivalent to approximately nine years of mineral processing at full capacity.
