Monarch Mining drills 35.9 g/t gold over 0.5 metres at McKenzie Break, Quebec
Monarch Mining Corp. [GBAR-TSX; GBARF-OTCQX] additional results from the 2022 drilling program on its 100%-owned McKenzie Break gold project 35 km northeast of Val d’Or, Quebec and 25 km north of the company’s Beacon mill with a design capacity of 750 tonnes per day.
The 2022 drilling program began in April, and 53 holes have been drilled for a total of 16,104 metres. The program aimed at expanding the size of the 2021 mineral resource estimate pit shell in the up-dip direction (to the west), increasing the current underground resource to the east and north, and testing additional exploration targets along the volcanic intrusive contact to the south.
This press release relates to newly received assay results for 12 holes, namely holes MK-22-334 to MK-22-338, MK-22-343 to MK-22-344, MK-22-352 to MK-22-354, and MK-22-356 to MK-22-357 (see table in original press release).
The results for the holes drilled at the northern edge of the deposit include 35.9 g/t gold over 0.5 metres and 11.05 g/t gold over 1.3 metres, indicating that the mineralization remains open to the north.
Drilling in the southwestern part of the deposit returned best intersections of 12.65 g/t gold over 1.5 metres and 28.2 g/t gold over 0.66 metres, showing that the mineralization also extends in the up-dip direction, thus confirming that the pit shell can be expanded to the west. The three holes drilled within the pit shell limits to fill in larger gaps in earlier drilling returned a best intersection of 17.2 g/t gold over 0.9 metres. Results are pending for the remaining 30 holes.
Since the publication of the 2021 MRE by Geologica and GoldMinds, Monarch has completed 41,424 metres of drilling in 121 drill holes. The holes are relatively shallow and were primarily drilled at the outer edge of the proposed pit shell limits and in the area of the underground mineral resource blocks. This drilling has confirmed that the pit shell and underground mineral resource can be expanded beyond the limits defined in the 2021 MRE.
“Our primary aim is to continue to expand the footprint of the mineral resource estimate, including the proposed pit shell,” said Jean-Marc Lacoste, president and CEO. “The McKenzie Break mineralization remains open in all directions, and the near-surface intersections we are seeing confirm that the current pit shell limits and underground resource can still be expanded in several directions.”
Monarch Mining is a fully integrated mining company that owns four projects, including the Beaufor mine, which has produced more than one million ounces of gold over the past 30 years. Other assets include the Croinor, McKenzie Break and Swanson properties, all located near Monarch’s wholly owned Beacon mill. Monarch owns 29,504 hectares (295 km2) of mining assets in the prolific Abitibi mining camp of Quebec that host a combined measured and indicated gold resource of 666,882 ounces and a combined inferred resource of 423,193 ounces.