GOLD: Monarques enters producer ranks with acquisition of Beaufor mine

[caption id="attachment_1003720245" align="aligncenter" width="468"] The Beaufor mine site and headframe near Val d’Or. (Credit: Monarques Gold)[/caption] QUEBEC – Monarques Gold Corp. of Montreal has entered the ranks of Quebec gold producers with the acquisition of the Beaufor gold mine 27 km northeast of Val d’Or. The mine produced roughly 20,000 oz. of gold in 2016 and had proven and probable reserves of 203,500 tonnes grading 6.86 g/t gold and containing 44,920 oz. Beaufor is one of the properties Monarques picked up from Richmont Mines of Toronto. The assets included the Beaufor mine, the Camflo and Beacon mills, and the Wasamac and Croinor gold development projects, plus six exploration properties in the Abitibi region. Along with the physical assets, Monarques added 150 experienced Richmont employees to its payroll. In payment for the Quebec assets, Monarques issued approximately 34.6 million common shares to Richmont. Separately, Richmont acquired about 5.7 million shares by converting subscription receipts of Monarques that Richmont previously subscribed to at a price of $0.35 per receipt. The two deals give Richmont about 40.3 million shares, or a 19.9% interest in Monarques. Richmont previously reported that production from Beaufor fell 26% from 2015 to 2016 due to the depletion of the room and pillar stopes, lower than expected grades, poor mobile equipment availability, and delays in developing the Q zone for longhole mining. Visit www.MonarquesGold.com for details of the Beaufor mine and other new assets.