Monarch Continues to Define High-Grade Gold Mineralization Near Surface at the Beaufor Mine With 99.7 g/t Au Over 0.6 m (1.97 Ft)

Rhea-AI Summary

Monarch Mining Corporation has announced positive final results from its 2021 surface drilling program at the Beaufor Mine, with high-grade gold assays reported, including 99.7 g/t Au over 0.6 m and 33.1 g/t Au over 0.5 m. These results reinforce the potential for mining reserves near the surface, located 350 meters from the main Beaufor shaft. To date, a total of 43,419 metres has been drilled in this exploration program. Continuous development drilling is underway, showing strong potential for increased mine resources.

Positive

• High-grade gold assays reported, including 99.7 g/t Au over 0.6 m.
• Completion of a successful 42,500-metre drilling program.
• Potential for increasing mine resources near surface.
• Five underground drill rigs actively continuing exploration.

Negative

• None.

• Monarch has received the final assays from its 2021 surface drilling program, which include high-grade intersections of 99.7 g/t Au over 0.6 m, 33.1 g/t Au over 0.5 m, 29.9 g/t Au over 0.7 m and 28.0 g/t Au over 0.6 m.
  
  
• These positive surface drilling results continue to define reserves and potentially mineable stopes near surface in the area of the W and 350 zones. These potential stope areas are located near surface, easily accessible from a surface ramp 350 metres from the main Beaufor shaft.
  
  
• This marks the completion of Monarch’s initially planned 42,500-metre Beaufor exploration drill program, which was successful at testing exploration targets defined by high-grade intersections and resource blocks near current existing underground development, both from surface and underground.
  
  
• Exploration and development drilling is continuing on the property with five drills underground.

MONTREAL, Jan. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MONARCH MINING CORPORATION (“Monarch” or the “Corporation”) (TSX: GBAR) (OTCQX: GBARF) is pleased to report the final results from its 2021 surface drilling program on its wholly-owned Beaufor Mine gold project, located 20 kilometres east of Val-d’Or, Québec. The results show several high-grade assays such as 46.29 g/t Au over 1.3 m (including 99.7 g/t Au over 0.6 m), 9.71 g/t Au over 2.5 m (including 33.1 g/t Au over 0.5 m), 29.8 g/t Au over 0.7 m and 28.1 g/t Au over 0.5 m. Much of the surface drilling consisted of shallow holes testing the W and 350 zones within 250 metres of surface. Monarch has reported previous surface drill results in the area, including 35.87 g/t Au over 9.8 metres and 11.02 g/t Au over 5.55 m (see press release dated January 19, 2021).

Figure 1: Longitudinal view of the 350, 367 and W zones at the Beaufor property
Figure 2: Section view of the 350, 367 and W zones at the Beaufor property

The Beaufor Mine began producing in the early 1930s and over the years has yielded over 1.1 million ounces of gold. The mine is currently on care and maintenance, which has given Monarch the opportunity to access the mine area to drill-test targets. In June 2020, the Corporation initiated a 42,500-metre diamond drilling program to test two types of targets: the areas around historical high-grade intersections near the existing underground infrastructure, and isolated resource blocks, which are typically defined by a single drill intersection. Both of these “near-mine” targets can often be tested from the existing underground workings, generally by holes less than 200 metres long. Currently, 258 holes totalling 43,419 metres have been drilled during the exploration program. Given the positive results obtained, additional holes are now being drilled to allow the zones in question to be converted into reserves and included in a future mine plan. Monarch is continuing exploration definition drilling with five underground drill rigs.

Underground development and rehabilitation are ongoing in the area of the W and 350 zones, which is easily accessible from a surface ramp located 350 metres from the main Beaufor shaft. The surface ramp providing access to the W and 350 zones presently extends to a vertical depth of 180 metres below surface.

BBA Inc. completed the mineral resource estimate for the Beaufor Mine in August 2021. An additional 25,623 metres of drilling in 105 drill holes has been completed since.

“The results of this surface drilling program are very encouraging,” said Jean-Marc Lacoste, President and Chief Executive Officer of Monarch. “We are very pleased to be able to develop new sectors of the mine where we can define and pull mineralization elsewhere than the bottom of the mine, which was the focus in the past. This work confirms our view that the project has excellent discovery potential both underground and near surface and that there is therefore a strong possibility of increased mine resources on multiple fronts.”

Sampling consists of sawing the drill core into equal halves along its main axis and shipping one of the halves to ALS Canada in Val-d’Or, Quebec, and AGAT Laboratories in Mississauga, Ontario, for assaying. The samples are crushed, pulverized and assayed by fire assay, with atomic absorption finish. Samples exceeding 10.0 g/t Au are re-assayed using the gravity method and samples containing visible gold are assayed using the metallic screen method. Monarch uses a comprehensive QA/QC protocol, including the insertion of standards, blanks and duplicates.

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

About Beaufor
The Beaufor Mine is located within the Bourlamaque Batholith at the eastern contact with the Dubuisson Formation. The Bourlamaque Batholith, a synvolcanic intrusion, is a major geological feature of the Val-d’Or mining camp. It is a quartziferous granodiorite cut by fine-grained diorite dykes. Gold mineralization occurs in veins associated with shear zones dipping moderately south. Mineralization is associated with quartz-tourmaline-pyrite veins resulting from the filling of shear and extension fractures. Gold-bearing veins show a close association with mafic dykes intruding the granodiorite. A National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate for the Beaufor Mine property was prepared for Monarch Mining in August 2021 by Charlotte Athurion, P. Geo, BBA Inc. The mineral resource estimate is listed in the table below.

Table 1: 2021 mineral resource estimate for the Beaufor Mine

Category	Tonnage (t)	Grade (g/t Au)	Ounces Au (oz)
Measured	328,500	5.7	59,900
Indicated	956,400	5.2	159,300
Total Measured and Indicated	1,284,900	5.3	219,200
Inferred	818,900	4.7	122,500

Mineral resource estimate notes:

1. The independent qualified person for the 2021 MRE, as defined by National Instrument (“NI”) 43-101 guidelines, is Charlotte Athurion, P.Geo., of BBA Inc. The effective date of this MRE is July 23, 2021.
2. These mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability.
3. The mineral resource estimate follows CIM definitions (2014) for mineral resources.
4. Results are presented diluted and considered to have reasonable prospects for economic extraction. Isolated and discontinuous blocks above the stated cut-off grades are excluded from the mineral resource estimate. Must-take material, i.e. isolated blocks below cut-off grade located within a potentially mineable volume, was included in the mineral resource statement.
5. The resources include 166 mineralized zones with a minimum true thickness of 2.4 m using the grade of the adjacent material when assayed or a value of 0.00025 when not assayed. High-grade capping varies from 20 to 65 g/t Au (when required) and was applied to composited assay grades for interpolation using an Ordinary Kriging interpolation method (ID2 for 96_01, 96_02, 20 zones, 21_01, 140, 367 and 350 zones) based on 1.5 m composite and block size of 5 m x 5 m x 5 m, with bulk density values of 2.75 (g/cm³). A second capping was applied for the second and third passes in order to restrict high-grade impact at greater distance.
6. Inferred Mineral Resources were defined for blocks within the units that have been informed by a minimum of two drillholes within 50 m of a drillhole (100 m of drill spacing); Indicated Mineral Resources were defined for blocks within the units that have been informed by a minimum of three drillholes within 12.5 m of a drillhole (25 m of drill spacing); Measured Mineral Resources were defined for blocks within the units that have been informed by a minimum of three drillholes within 5 m of a drillholes (10 m of drill spacing) or 3 m around voids. Measured Mineral Resources were only defined for zones with a good reliability of the geological continuity or supported by underground workings.
7. The estimate is reported for potential underground scenario at cut-off grades of 2.8 g/t Au (>=45 degree dip) and 3.2 g/t Au (<45 degree dip). The cut-off grades were calculated using a gold price of US$1,550 per ounce, a USD:CAD exchange rate of 1.32 (resulting in C$1,914 per ounce gold price); mining cost C$125/t (>=45 degree dip); C$150/t (<45 degree dip); processing cost C$35/t; G&A C$16/t; metallurgical recovery of 97%; royalties of US$37.52 per ounce; and refining and transport cost of US$1.50 per ounce.
8. The number of metric tonnes and ounces were rounded to the nearest hundred and the metal contents are presented in troy ounces (tonne x grade/31.10348). Rounding may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grades and contained metals content.
9. BBA Inc. is not aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, socio-political or marketing issues, or any other relevant issues not reported in this Report that could materially affect the mineral resource estimate.

About Monarch
Monarch Mining Corporation (TSX: GBAR) (OTCQX: GBARF) is a fully integrated mining company that owns four projects, including the Beaufor Mine, which has produced more than 1 million ounces of gold over the last 30 years. Other assets include the Croinor Gold, McKenzie Break and Swanson properties, all located near Monarch’s wholly owned 750 tpd Beacon Mill. Monarch owns 28,702 hectares (287 km²) of mining assets in the prolific Abitibi mining camp that host a combined measured and indicated gold resource of 478,982 ounces and a combined inferred resource of 383,393 ounces.

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.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jean-Marc Lacoste	1-888-994-4465
President and Chief Executive Officer	jm.lacoste@monarchmining.com
Mathieu Séguin	1-888-994-4465
Vice President, Corporate Development	m.seguin@monarchmining.com
Elisabeth Tremblay	1-888-994-4465
Geologist and Communication Manager	e.tremblay@monarchmining.com

www.monarchmining.com

Table 2: Beaufor Mine significant assay results (Surface Drill Holes)

Hole	From (m)	To (m)	Width (m)*	Au (g/t)
BES-21-024	81.15	81.8	0.65	4.70
BES-21-024	92.6	93.1	0.5	8.03
BES-21-026	61.5	63.4	1.9	0.76
BES-21-027	71.5	72.5	1.0	4.25
BES-21-028	53.6	54.1	0.5	13.10
BES-21-032	68	70.5	2.5	1.79
BES-21-032	89.5	90	0.5	11.40
BES-21-033	83.9	84.4	0.5	0.45
BES-21-034	81.5	82.6	1.1	6.88
Incl.	82	82.6	0.6	11.50
BES-21-034	85.5	86	0.5	3.93
BES-21-034	173.5	176	2.5	9.71
Incl.	175.5	176	0.5	33.10
BES-21-034	181	182.8	1.8	3.19
BES-21-034	202.5	204.5	2.0	1.52
BES-21-034	210.5	213	2.5	1.27
BES-21-035	70	70.5	0.5	1.40
BES-21-035	121.1	121.6	0.5	0.92
BES-21-039	85	85.55	0.55	1.77
BES-21-040	215.7	218	2.3	2.53
BES-21-043	91.5	93	1.5	0.48
BES-21-044	36	36.6	0.6	28.10
BES-21-045	60.2	61	0.8	0.80
BES-21-046A	187	190.5	3.5	4.05
Incl.	189	190.5	1.5	8.41
BES-21-047	204.1	204.85	0.75	1.30
BES-21-048	32.8	34.1	1.3	46.29
Incl.	33.5	34.1	0.6	99.70
BES-21-048	47.1	49.75	2.65	2.50
Incl.	47.1	48.25	1.15	5.49
BES-21-048	220.2	220.9	0.7	29.90
BES-21-049	52.3	53	0.7	1.18
BES-21-050	64.5	65.5	1.0	0.34
BES-21-051	64.7	66.2	1.5	3.83
BES-21-052	57	59.1	2.1	0.92
BES-21-053	31.5	32.2	0.7	1.03
BES-21-053	43.85	44.35	0.5	1.84
BES-21-053	73.7	74.3	0.6	0.98

*The width shown is the core length. The true width is taken into account in the mineral resource estimate.

Table 3: Beaufor Mine drill hole location

Hole	Mine E	Mine N	Elevation	Azimuth (°)	Dip (°)	Length (m)
BES-21-023	1423.3	3381	3046	355	-53	102
BES-21-024	1409	3382	3046	356	-55	108
BES-21-025	1433	3370	3047	353	-53	102
BES-21-026	1438	3354	3047	352	-53	102
BES-21-027	1434	3340	3047	352	-53	108
BES-21-028	1448	3351	3047	353	-53	111
BES-21-029	1458	3368	3047	353	-53	102
BES-21-030	1442	3376	3047	353	-53	102
BES-21-031	1428	3395	3046	352	-54	102
BES-21-032	1411	3363	3047	352	-52	117
BES-21-033	1410.7	3340.2	3047	350	-59	135
BES-21-034	1441	3311	3048	347	-52	243
BES-21-035	1430.7	3332.6	3047	351	-55	132
BES-21-038A	1598	3123	3052	40	-76	342
BES-21-039	1607	3132	3052	25	-75	324
BES-21-040	1584	3164	3051	48	-75	300
BES-21-043	1800	3141	3054	55	-72	111
BES-21-044	1846	3186	3052	343	-65	57
BES-21-045	1846	3186	3052	325	-78	66
BES-21-046A	1767	3652	3044	43	-76	225
BES-21-047	1741	3625	3044	31	-75	258
BES-21-048	1751	3583	3045	23	-75	297
BES-21-049	2477.6	3435	3064	360	-90	102
BES-21-050	2457.5	3435	3064	360	-90	102
BES-21-051	2457.5	3420.6	3064	360	-90	105
BES-21-052	2485	3458	3064	360	-90	105
BES-21-053	2498	3450	3064	360	-90	102

Table 4: Monarch combined gold resources

Mineral resource estimates	Tonnes (metric)	Grade (g/t Au)	Ounces
Beaufor Mine1
Measured Resources	328,500	5.7	59,900
Indicated Resources	956,400	5.2	159,300
Total Measured and Indicated	1,284,900	5.3	219,200
Total Inferred	818,900	4.7	122,500
McKenzie Break2
In-pit
Total Indicated	1,441,377	1.80	83,305
Total Inferred	2,243,562	1.44	104,038
Underground
Total Indicated	387,720	5.03	62,677
Total Inferred	1,083,503	4.21	146,555
Swanson3
In-pit
Total Indicated	1,864,000	1.76	105,400
Total Inferred	29,000	2.46	2,300
Underground
Total Indicated	91,000	2.86	8,400
Total Inferred	87,000	2.87	8,000
TOTAL COMBINED4 Measured and Indicated Resources Inferred Resources			478,982 383,393
1 Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Beaufor Mine Project, July 23, 2021, Val-d’Or, Québec, Canada, Charlotte Athurion, P. Geo., Clovis Auger, P. Geo., and Dario Evangelista, P. Eng., BBA Inc. 2 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. 3 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. 4 Numbers may not add due to rounding.

Historical mineral resource estimate	Tonnes (metric)	Grade (g/t Au)	Ounces
Croinor Gold1,2
Measured Resources	80,100	8.44	21,700
Indicated Resources	724,500	9.20	214,300
Total Measured and Indicated	804,600	9.12	236,000
Total Inferred	160,800	7.42	38,400

¹ Source: Monarch Gold prefeasibility study (January 19, 2018). 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. Furthermore, a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves; and therefore, Monarch is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves.
² Numbers may not add due to rounding.

 

FAQ

What are the recent drilling results for Monarch Mining Corporation's Beaufor Mine?

Monarch reported high-grade gold assays from its 2021 surface drilling program, including 99.7 g/t Au over 0.6 m.

How many meters were drilled in the Beaufor exploration program?

A total of 43,419 metres was drilled during the exploration program.

What is the historical significance of the Beaufor Mine?

The Beaufor Mine has produced over 1.1 million ounces of gold since its inception in the early 1930s.

What is the company's plan for future drilling at Beaufor Mine?

Monarch is continuing exploration definition drilling and has initiated further drilling to convert potential zones into reserves.

How does Monarch Mining ensure the quality of its drilling samples?

Monarch employs a comprehensive QA/QC protocol including standards, blanks, and duplicates.