Paul Teniere, CEO of LaFleur Minerals commented, "Hub-and-spoke mining and milling arrangements have long been a feature of mining in the Abitibi Gold Belt in Québec. With the price of gold having risen from USD$2,000 per ounce to a current price approaching USD$3,000 per ounce over the past 12 months, we are excited to look at potentially custom milling mineralized material from the Granada Gold deposit. Today, we are announcing the first step in assessing the viability of such an arrangement for the Granada Gold deposit as part of the Beacon Gold Mill restart project. The MOU with Granada will facilitate the preliminary technical work required to assess the compatibility of the Granada Gold deposit with the Beacon Gold Mill. The Beacon Gold Mill is directly accessible to the Granada Gold deposit via truck hauling on paved highway, and possibly rail shipping. With offsite processing and tailings disposal, the Granada Gold deposit could potentially be a low-cost, low-impact, and highly profitable mining operation. The MOU with Granada Gold contains no commercial terms regarding how mineralized material from the Granada Gold deposit to Beacon Gold Mill would be arranged. However, further discussions between the two parties are contemplated upon the successful completion of this preliminary technical work."
TERMS OF THE MOU
The MOU facilitates the exchange of technical data between LaFleur Minerals and Granada Gold regarding metallurgy, flow-sheet configuration, potential mill modifications, and future processing and tailings disposal capacity. Each Party will be responsible for its own costs associated with this work. To conduct the assessment, LaFleur Minerals has retained ABF Mines Inc., and a program of metallurgical work has already commenced at the Granada Gold deposit. The MOU is non-binding and non-exclusive and contains no specific terms around potential commercial arrangements between the Parties. There is no certainty that any arrangement between the Parties will result from their dealings pursuant to the MOU.
LaFleur Minerals CORE ASSETS:
BEACON GOLD MILL
Fully-refurbished, permitted Beacon Gold Mill, capable of processing over 750 tonnes per day (Figure 1 and 2).
The entirely refurbished Beacon Gold Mill was last fully operational in early 2023 when the price of gold was USD$1,800 per ounce and has been under care and maintenance since that time. As gold approaches a record price of USD$3,000 per ounce, the goal of restarting the Beacon Gold Mill in the coming months is an exceptional opportunity for LaFleur Minerals to also target the custom milling of mineralized material from nearby gold deposits that surround the Beacon Mill. LaFleur Minerals demonstrates significant upside potential by ultimately generating revenue at the current elevated gold prices, with the restart of the Beacon Mill targeting a potential annual production scenario of approximately 30,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold based on the current mill capacity. The Company is currently finalizing the restart costs for the Beacon Mill and expects to have all permits and updates completed by the end of 2025.
Figure 1: Photo of interior of Beacon Mill currently undergoing detailed inspections for restart
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Figure 2: Photo of exterior of Beacon Mill in Val-d'Or, Québec
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SWANSON GOLD PROJECT
The Swanson Gold Project is over 16,000 hectares in size and includes several prospects rich in gold and critical metals previously held by Monarch Mining, Abcourt Mines, and Globex Mining. The Swanson Gold Project covers a major structural break that hosts the Swanson Gold Deposit, and Bartec, and Jolin gold targets and numerous other showings which make up the Swanson Gold Project. The Swanson Gold Project is easily accessible by road with a rail line running through the property, allowing direct access to several nearby gold mills and further enhancing its development potential. The Swanson gold project has had in excess of 36,000m of historical drilling.
(MRE source: NI 43-101 technical report, effective September 17, 2024, filed on the Company's SEDAR+ profile).
Figure 3: Swanson Gold Project and other gold deposits within 50 km of the Beacon Gold Mill
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LaFleur Minerals' strategy combines advancing the Swanson Gold Deposit resource estimate, custom milling at the Beacon Gold Mill, and leveraging regional infrastructure to maximize value.
QUALIFIED PERSON STATEMENT
All scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared and approved by Louis Martin, P.Geo., Technical Advisor to the Company and considered a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101.
About LaFleur Minerals Inc.
LaFleur Minerals Inc. (CSE: LFLR) (OTCQB: LFLRF) (FSE: 3WK0) is focused on the development of district-scale gold projects in the Abitibi Gold Belt near Val-d'Or, Québec. Our mission is to advance mining projects with a laser focus on our resource-stage Swanson Gold Project and the Beacon Gold Mill, which have significant potential to deliver long-term value. The Swanson Gold Project is over 16,000 hectares (160 km2) in size and includes several prospects rich in gold and critical metals previously held by Monarch Mining, Abcourt Mines, and Globex Mining. LaFleur has recently consolidated a large land package along a major structural break that hosts the Swanson, Bartec, and Jolin gold deposits and several other showings which make up the Swanson Gold Project. The Swanson Gold Project is easily accessible by road with a rail line running through the property allowing direct access to several nearby gold mills, further enhancing its development potential. LaFleur Minerals' fully-refurbished and permitted Beacon Gold Mill is capable of processing over 750 tonnes per day and is being considered for processing mineralized material at Swanson and for custom milling operations for other nearby gold projects.
ON BEHALF OF LaFleur Minerals INC.
LaFleur Minerals Inc.
1500-1055 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 4N7
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information
This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this new release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements related to the use of proceeds from the Offering. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
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