The new gold rush is on, and investors are laser-focussed on companies that can ‘deliver the goods’…both as explorers
and producers. Based out of Montreal,
Monarch Mining Corp. (
TSX.GBAR,
OTCQX: GBARF,
Forum) is a fully integrated mining company that owns four advanced projects. These include the fully permitted past-producing Beaufor Mine and the Croinor Gold, McKenzie Break, and Swanson Properties.
Stockhouse Media’s Dave Jackson caught up with company Vice-President of Corporate Development, Matt Seguin, to get shareholders and investors up-to-date with this intriguing gold mining play in the heart of the prolific Abitibi mining camp.
(CLICK IMAGE TO PLAY VIDEO)
SH1: Can we first start off with you providing us with a brief overview of yourself and the company?
MS: Sure. My name is Matt Seguin. I used to be an investment banker for more than 15 years in a previous life. I was basically working with various dealers in the country and then I joined a Monarch Gold, the previous company in 2019 until it was sold to Yamana in 2021. So we started this new company, Monarch Mining out of a spin-out of the announced transaction and we started trading in January under the ticker symbol GBAR.
SH2: The company owns four advanced projects, including the Beaufor Mine. Which is its primary focus and what are some major highlights of the project to date you can tell us about?
MS: Yes, of course the Beaufor Mine is a mine that produced over 1.2 million ounces over the last 30 years. It was put on care and maintenance in 2019 in the previous company because the focus was on a Wasamac and then when we started that new company, the plan was to put that mine in the forefront especially with today's Gold price since the permits are in place the mine has been kept dry for the last two years. So the plan is to restart the operation by the end of the year with their goal of becoming a 100,000 ounces a year producer within the next 2, 3, or 4 years.
SH3: Notably, Matt, Monarch Mining recently released additional results from its exploration diamond drilling program at the Beaufor Mine. Can you walk us through these results and the significance of them for the company?
MS: Yes, of course, we've announced a 42,000 meter drilling campaign last year which we now have closed and 75% of it done. The latest results from theramp are very important for us. We've announced that it'll be 35 grams over 10 meters, and those are results are from the ramp section. So in the anticipation of the restart the goal is to mine from the Q zone, which is a 900 meter level and from the ramp, which is a close to surface as well. So the importance of that latest results, very close to the surface. It's very important for the future of the mine.
SH4: What will the company’s next steps be with the Beaufor Mine, specifically?
MS: We intend to announce a new 43-101 resource calculation within the next 45 days and we're still aiming for a restart before the end of the year. So we're in the middle of hiring labor, buying equipment, getting ready for our restart in December of this year.
SH5: In addition to the focus at the Beaufor Mine, could you tell us more about your fully-permitted Beacon Mill?
MS: Yes, it's a mill that's on care and maintenance since 2016. The date we acquired the mill. It's a 750 tons per day operation. We're currently refurbishing the mill to get it ready to receive the ore from Beaufor Mine and the tailings are empty. We've got a capacity of 1.8 million tons. So meaning we have the capacity to take on custom milling arrangement if need be, but we're currently refurbishing the mill and spending a lot of money to get it up and running and to be ready for the Beaufor Mine operation before the end of the year.
SH6: What’s Monarch Mining’s business model and how does it make money?
MS: Well, we're a fully integrated in mining company. We have exploration asset as well as soon to be a producing asset with the Beaufor Mine. So we'd like to think a bit differently from other junior company. The goal is to become 100,000 ounces a year producer within the next three or four years. We have all those satellite projects that are in the vicinity of the mill, and we have a plan to bring those projects in line over the next 3, 4 years and like I said become a serious gold producer in your region. Right now in Abitibi mining camp. It's mostly the senior producers where there's a few smaller companies but we intend to be the next one in line in the Abitibi region.
SH7: As always, Matt, it’s an interesting time for gold. What are your thoughts on the market this year?
MS: I need a crystal ball for that. Well, I'm a gold bug myself. I think we're going to trade probably sideways for the next few months but depending on the fall, especially with inflation that's coming our way and we can basically see that for ourselves because we are trying to hire labor, buy equipment, we just know we can see the difference in pricing. So we believe with the federal reserve policy and having them printing money. I think we can foresee $2,000 bucks per ounce before the end of the year.
SH8: Finally, Matt, if I’ve missed anything please feel free to discuss.
JML: Well, Monarch Mining is a newly formed company. We're well-funded we just closed this morning at $11.5 million transaction with a Royalty Fund. We've got close to 30 million in the bank, we are fully funded. To start the Beaufor Mine along with the Beacon mill and I think we're currently trading like a junior exploration company although we have the infrastructure, and we have the mine in place. I believe that we're going to start to trading like a producer shortly and eventually get the valuation in line with all those smaller producers.
For more information, visit
www.monarchmining.com.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.