Name: Beaufor mine.

Location: The mine is located about 20 km north-east of Val-d’Or, in the Abitibi-East township, in Quebec, Canada.

Controlling Company: Monarques Gold Corporation acquired all Richmont Mining’s claims, mining leases and mining concessions, including the Beaufor mine.
 

Brief Description: The Beaufor mine is an underground mine, comprising two mining leases, a mining concession and 23 mining claims covering 5.9 km².

Brief History: Intermittent exploration fieldwork has been conducted on the Beaufor property since the 1930s.

Following an initial development period, commercial production started in January 1996.

Richmont Mines bought 50% of the mining rights of the Perron, Beaufor, Pascalis, Colombière and Courvan properties for C$1.8-million in 2001.

Richmont Mines undertook construction work to secure the crown pillar in September 2001. In January 2002, it resumed commercial production at the mine jointly with Louvem Mines. The Beaufor mine has produced gold since then.

Richmont became the 100% owner of the Beaufor property on June 30, 2010, following the company’s acquisition of the outstanding 30% of Louvem shares not previously owned by Richmont.

Monarques Gold acquired all of Richmont's mining assets in Québec in October 2017, including the Beaufor mine. The mine has since been placed on care and maintenance, owing to low ore grades and the persistently weak gold price.

Products: Gold.

Geology/Mineralisation: The Beaufor deposit is included in the Bourlamaque granodiorite. Gold mineralisation occurs in veins associated with shear zones that moderately dip south. The mineralisation is associated with quartz-tourmaline veins resulting from the filling of shear and extension fractures. The gold-bearing veins show a close association with mafic dykes intruding on and undercutting the granodiorite. The dykes seem to have influenced the structural control of the gold-bearing veins.

Gold-bearing veins at the Beaufor mine comprise quartz-tourmaline-pyrite veins, typical of Archean epigenetic lode gold deposits, which cross-cut the Bourlamaque batholith. Mafic dykes that predate the mineralisation are associated with shear-hosted gold-bearing veins. Shallowly dipping extensional gold-bearing veins are commonly observed at the Beaufor mine. Shear zones striking 70° north and dipping steeply to the south-west control the opening and gold enrichment of veins.

All the gold-bearing veins are contained in a strongly-altered granodiorite in the form of chlorite-silica forming anastomosing corridors of 5 m to 30 m in thickness. The veins at the Beaufor mine sometimes form panels of more than 300 m in length and 350 m in height. The thickness of the veins varies from 5 cm to 5 m, but generally, the thickness of the quartz veining system is 30 cm to 120 cm. The zones are limited by the Beaufor fault and by a parallel system of shears.

Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at September 30, 2017, were estimated at 139 500 t grading 6.83 g/t gold.

Resources: Total measured and indicated resources as at September 30, 2018, were estimated 346 200 t grading at 7.67 g/t gold. Inferred mineral resources were estimated at 46 100 t grading 8.34 g/t gold.

Mining Method: Underground.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: Two active mine shafts are located on the Beaufor mine site – the Perron No 5 shaft that is used for hoisting ore and waste rock, and transporting personnel and material, and the Pascalis shaft, which is used as a ventilation air intake. A raise from the 1 250 level to surface is used as an escape way. A portal is located 350 m south-south-east of the Perron shaft and the ramp provides access to the 350 Zone. A series of buildings have been erected to serve as warehouses, workshops, garages, a core shack and offices. Milling and tailings management take place away from site, at the Camflo mill.

Beaufor ore has been processed at the Camflo mill since 1994. The mill is located about 50 km west of the mine. The 1 600 t/d mill has crushing and grinding circuits, as well as a Merrill-Crow concentrating circuit that uses cyanidation and zinc powder precipitation for gold recovery.

Prospects: On August 30, 2018, Monarques announced that production activities at the Beaufor mine will be temporarily suspended as of December 14, 2018, and the mine will be placed on care and maintenance. Various possible scenarios are being studied to bring the mine back into production.

Contact Details:
Monarques Gold Corporation
Tel +1 514 840 9709
Email info@mornarquesgold.com
Website https://www.monarquesgold.com