Monarch Mining has produced the first gold bar from its Beaufor operation and Beacon Mill east of Val-d’Or, Quebec, and is reporting enviable progress from the new mine.
The Quebec-based company said the first bar is a significant milestone for Beaufor since its listing in January of last year. To date, it has stockpiled 23,914 tonnes of ore averaging 4.76 g/t that is ready to be processed.
“During the production for the month of July, the Beacon Mill achieved a record day of 765 tonnes of ore and ore recovery ranged from 96.3% to 98.7%,” officials said. “While this data is preliminary at this stage of the milling process, it is nonetheless a very positive result.”
The mine is planning now to continue ramping up production at the Beacon Mill as it targets commercial production in the coming months.
President and CEO Jean-Marc Lacoste said the advancement of the restarted Beaufor mine and refurb of the Beacon Mill over the last 18 months has been remarkable even with many challenges caused by the pandemic and recent geopolitical and economic events.
“Despite some delays due to the plant’s automation systems and lost time due to COVID-19, we are proud to have achieved our goals with a slight delay of only six weeks,” he said.
“This is quite a challenge that we have just met, and we are confident that we’ll be able to create sustainable value for our shareholders and our 221 employees who have invested in this restart and in the future of Monarch. The next step will be to gradually increase the production rate of the Beacon Mill to reach commercial production, a goal we expect to achieve in the coming months.”
Monarch’s other assets include the Croinor Gold, McKenzie Break and Swanson properties, all located near Monarch’s wholly owned 750-tpd Beacon Mill. Monarch owns 29,504 hectares (295 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.
Source: monarchmining.com