Monarch Gold sells Pandora NSR to Agnico Eagle

The sale of a 0.5% net smelter return royalty on Monarch Gold‘s (TSX: MQR; US-OTC: MRQRF) Pandora property to Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM) monetizes a non-core asset, and reduces the cost of acquiring the McKenzie Break and Swanson properties by $800,000, the junior says.

The Pandora royalty was part of the assets that Monarch acquired from Richmont Mines in October 2017, along with the McKenzie Break and Swanson properties.

Since drilling at McKenzie Break began in in 2018, Monarch has expanded the deposit and confirmed its high-grade potential.

Assays from the third and last set of drill results from its 13,945-metre drill program (61 holes) last year were released on March 20.

Highlights include drill hole 18-236, which returned 12.6 grams gold per tonne over 1.35 metres, including 56 grams gold over 0.3 metre at 80 metres below surface. The interval is 65 metres southeast of drill hole 18-210, which cut 12.5 grams gold over half a metre from the same horizon, extending the lens to the east and demonstrating that it remains open, the company says.

Hole 18-236 also intersected another lens at a depth of 145 metres from surface, with values of 13.4 grams gold over 2 metres, including 26 grams gold over 1 metre, and 75 metres north, on the same horizon, hole 18-232 returned 6.8 grams gold over 2 metres, including 13.7 grams gold over 1 metre.

Hole 18-231, to the north of Monarch’s planned Green Zone open pit, returned 15.7 grams gold over 1.5 metres. Hole 18-222 cut 14 grams gold over 1 metre from 68 metres below surface, about 70 metres northwest of the Green zone.

McKenzie Break, a narrow-vein gold deposit, is 25 km north of Val-d’Or, Quebec, and close to the company’s Camflo and Beacon mills.

The company completed a pit-constrained resource estimate for McKenzie Break in June 2018, outlining 939,860 tonnes grading 1.6 grams gold per tonne for 48,133 contained oz. gold in the indicated category and another 304,677 tonnes averaging 1.5 grams gold for 14,897 oz. gold in the inferred.

McKenzie Break also has an underground resource of 281,739 indicated tonnes grading 6 grams gold for 53,448 contained oz. gold and 270,103 inferred tonnes grading 5.7 grams gold for 49,103 oz. gold.