This article has been disseminated on behalf of LaFleur Minerals Inc. (CSE: LFLR) (OTCQB: LFLRF) and may include paid advertising.
- Gold explorer and near-term producer LaFleur Minerals is building up its capital reserves to fund PEA work in preparation for extraction operations at its Swanson Gold Project in the Abitibi Gold Belt of Québec, and milling operations restart at Beacon Gold Mill by early next year
- The company recently closed a flow-through private placement offering for aggregate gross proceeds of more than $1.66 million to help fund exploration and PEA-related work at Swanson, and any eligible ore sorting and metallurgical test work for the restart of its wholly owned gold mill
- LaFleur’s assayed results from initial test drilling have shown multiple mineralized zones and favorable conditions for a near-surface, open-pit operation at Swanson, which intends to serve as gold bulk sample extraction from its planned open-pit mining effort
The recent announcement by gold explorer and near-term producer LaFleur Minerals (CSE: LFLR) (OTCQB: LFLRF) that the company has completed a flow-through private placement funding paves the way for LaFleur to press forward with exploration and drilling programs at its Swanson Gold Project in the Abitibi Gold Belt of Québec, with the necessary work ahead of its Beacon Gold Mill restart.
The Swanson Gold Project is LaFleur’s flagship, advanced stage, district-scale exploration property with over 36,000 metres of historic drilling recorded, containing numerous gold-bearing regional structures. The Company benefits from a wealth of information at Swanson to base its in-process Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) upon as well as high-grade, significant intervals such as historical holes SW-03-07 defining 69.3 metres at 3.03 g/t Au and BAR31-84 defining 51.0 metres at 3.46 g/t Au. The company benefits from extensive historical exploration work and development from the previous owner, a property that consolidated nearby claims to expand its footprint by over 3X its original size. The company also benefits from over $20 million worth of upgrades made to its mill infrastructure asset, Beacon Gold Mill, that occurred just prior to the previous owners’ assets becoming subject to bankruptcy proceedings. LaFleur further strengthens its position with a near-term revenue strategy as it restarts gold production at Beacon, capitalizing on its assets and the prolific nature of the renowned and top gold producing region where its two projects sit in the heart of the Abitibi greenstone belt.
In addition to advancing exploration at LaFleur’s site for the purpose of advancing work needed to complete its comprehensive and robust mining study, the PEA, the private placement offering for aggregate gross proceeds of more than $1.66 million benefits “flow-through eligible work” such as ore-sorting and metallurgical testwork of a large bulk sample intended for the restart of gold production at the Company’s 100%-owned Beacon Gold Mill using mineralized material from the Swanson Gold Deposit, which sits only ~60 km away. (https://ibn.fm/liVPO).
Flow-through shares of stock allow companies to renounce or transfer the tax deductibility of exploration and development expenses to investors under a structure that provides an additional benefit to investors while making it easier for companies to fund their exploration projects. LaFleur’s flow-through units consist of one common share and one share purchase warrant.
“We’ve done a pretty good job of consolidating originally around the Swanson deposit and have grown it to as it is,” LaFleur CEO Paul Ténière said during a recent interview with CEO.CA’s Inside the Boardroom podcast (https://ibn.fm/SAo5L). “There are other opportunities, especially to the south and southeast of Swanson. … And, so, what we’re looking at doing is consolidating and adding claims from adjacent properties into (Swanson) to continue to expand.”
Gold prices have enjoyed a remarkable run this year, rising nearly 50% since January. Even with some recent sell-off activity, prices have remained stable hovering around the $4,000 an ounce mark (https://ibn.fm/o7TG1).
When the Beacon Gold Mill was last operating in 2022, gold prices were at $1,600 an ounce. LaFleur anticipates that the mill will not only be useful in processing the bulk sample it plans to take from its Swanson Gold Project, but also in exploring the potential of building near-term revenue through processing ore from other nearby operators’ gold projects through custom toll milling contracts that keeping operations moving rapidly while gold prices remain near record levels.
The de-risked bulk sample taken from an open-pit mining project will comprise the first 100,000 metric tons of material taken from Swanson. The mill is capable of processing over 750 metric tons per day and LaFleur has also estimated approximately 10,000–20,000 tonnes of mineralized stockpiles remaining on site to serve as feed for initial trial runs. The Abitibi greenstone belt is regarded as unrivaled when it comes to gold production, accounting for more than 300 million ounces of the ore when past production and current reserves are factored together.
LaFleur’s projects lie in the highly-regarded Abitibi gold belt—one of the world’s premier jurisdictions now seeing major M&A activity and consolidation (IAMGOLD, Probe), offering exceptional leverage to record gold prices and growing regional demand for long-life, low-risk assets. With LaFleur’s Beacon Gold Mill and Swanson Gold Project located in the Val-d’Or mining camp as many of these M&A targets, this increases the strategic importance of Beacon Gold Mill as regional infrastructure in a growing production corridor. Valuations set through regional M&A also establishes a district pricing precedent that may re-rate the entire Val-d’Or peer group upward, suggesting that LaFleur’s Beacon-Swanson combination could be substantially undervalued by comparison.
For more information, visit the company’s website at LaFleurMinerals.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to LFLRF are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/LFLRF
Qualified Person Statement:
All scientific and technical information contained in this article has been reviewed and approved by Louis Martin, P.Geo. (OGQ), Exploration Manager and Technical Advisor of the company and considered a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101.
About InvestorWire
InvestorWire (“IW”) is a specialized communications platform with a focus on advanced wire-grade press release syndication for private and public companies and the investment community. It is one of 70+ brands within the Dynamic Brand Portfolio @ IBN that delivers: (1) access to a vast network of wire solutions via InvestorWire to efficiently and effectively reach a myriad of target markets, demographics and diverse industries; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ outlets; (3) enhanced press release enhancement to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN to millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of tailored corporate communications solutions. With broad reach and a seasoned team of contributing journalists and writers, IW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that want to reach a wide audience of investors, influencers, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, IW brings its clients unparalleled recognition and brand awareness. IW is where breaking news, insightful content and actionable information converge.
For more information, please visit https://www.InvestorWire.com
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the InvestorWire website applicable to all content provided by IW, wherever published or re-published: https://www.InvestorWire.com/Disclaimer
InvestorWire
Austin, Texas
www.InvestorWire.com
512.354.7000 Office
[email protected]
InvestorWire is powered by IBN