Monarch Mining announces updated resource estimate

Monarch acquired the McKenzie Break property from Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd in 2017 and expanded the property in 2020 through additional purchase agreements with local prospectors and map staking to now stand at 133 claims covering a total area of 5130.4 ha. Located 20 km north of the Beacon mill and 10 km south of the municipality of Barraute, Québec, the property is accessible year-round via Route 397 and a gravel road and includes a portal and 700 m ramp excavated in 2009.

Geologically, the property straddles the Manneville Tectonic Zone, interpreted to be the eastern extension of the Destor-Porcupine Break. Gold mineralisation occurs in an elongated diorite unit or lens within a shallow embayment of the Pascalis Batholith.

The 2021 updated resource estimate follows the 2018 – 2020 diamond drilling programmes completed by Monarch that included 75 drill holes totalling 20 037.9 m. The 2018 – 2020 programmes were focused on better defining and expanding the mineralisation within the previously proposed pitshell and the deeper known mineralisation. This new diamond drilling focused on the mineralisation covering an area measuring 1300 m along strike by 900 m and to a vertical depth of 455 m.

Monarch mandated Geologica Groupe-Conseil Inc. of Val-d’Or and GoldMinds Geoservices of Québec to prepare and update the 12 July 2018, NI 43-101 Technical Evaluation Report and Resource Estimate prepared by Geologica and GeoPointCom. The 2021 updated resource estimate was calculated to present resources with both constrained pit and underground potential. The current resource estimate for Monarch indicates that:

• The resource estimate is confined to 30 parallel and stacked mineralised zones/vein structures that have been identified on the property.
• The estimated resources are reported for combined constrained pit and underground scenarios.
• The total Indicated resource stands at 1 829 097 t at 2.48 g/t gold (Au) for 145 982 oz of Au.
• The total Inferred resource stands at 3 327 065 t at 2.34 g/t Au for 250 593 oz of Au.
• Many of the high-grade intersections outside of the pit shell are open. It is likely that additional diamond drilling would increase the inferred tonnage and allow some of the Inferred resources to be upgraded to the indicated category.

The estimate is based on a database of 333 drill holes, 57 789 m of drilling and 34 026 assays. A total of 30 mineralised envelopes were modelled and validated. Capping was applied to raw assays before compositing, with grades capped at 60 g/t Au for the mineralised 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.

This updated mineral resource results in 44% more gold in the indicated category and 291% more gold in the inferred category compared to the 2018 resource estimate (Geologica, 2018). The resource in the area of the proposed pit shell was expanded due to increase drilling below and at the outer edges the proposed pit shell. The underground resource increased significantly due to the new zones discovered at depth and exploration drilling completed at 50 m centres in an attempt to define the limits on the mineralised zone.

Some of the better intersections from this recent exploration step-out drilling incorporated into the resource estimate included 32.3 g/t Au over 7.1 m in hole MK-18-205ext (see press release dated 26 February 2020) and 13.95 g/t Au over 14.35 m in hole MK-20-255 (see press release dated 23 July 2020).

The mineralised envelope has yet to be closed off and Monarch continues to drill it off at 50 m centres. Monarch has planned a 38-hole, 14 500 m follow-up drilling programme to continue to expand the limits of the known mineralisation. This follow-up drilling is in progress, with results pending.

“We are very pleased with the updated resource estimate,” said Jean-Marc Lacoste, President and CEO of Monarch. “Our 2018 – 2020 drilling programmes have allowed us to significantly expand the known mineralised envelope, which lies at a relatively shallow depth. These programmes totalling 20 037.9 m of drilling managed to add 44 401 oz of indicated material and 186 566 oz of inferred material, which translate to an additional 2.2 oz of indicated resource and 9.3 oz of inferred resource for every metre we drilled. We believe that McKenzie Break continues to hold significant exploration potential, as shown by these latest results, and we intend to develop that potential through efficient drilling programmes.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/08022021/monarch-mining-announces-updated-resource-estimate/