Queries Beauce Placer remains an empty shell

Would you be kind enough to provide me with some information on Beauce Placer Mining Co. which seems to be active, even if I haven’t read about it recently, and on Prime Potash Corp. of Canada which appears to be defunct? J.B., Brossard, Que.

Unfortunately, Beauce Placer Mining of Montreal is now a dormant shell company in the Coniagas Mines group. The company published its last annual report in 1985 at which time it was carrying a debt load of over $1 million.

Beauce Placer operated a placer gold operation 70 km southeast of Quebec City until technical and financial difficulties forced to company to postpone work in late 1965.

With promoter M. J. Boylen in charge, the company tried and failed to get financing for a resumption of operations. When it passed into the hands of Warren Armstrong along with control of the Boylen estate in 1970, the Coniagas vice-president failed to gain approval for a 1-for-25-share reorganization plan.

Untraceable bonds and debentures which remain outstanding have made any restructuring impossible, says Coniagas spokesman Garfield Heyes.

Beauce Placer was delisted from the Canadian Stock Exchange in May, 1973, for failure to keep up listing requirements. By 1976, the company was still trying to plot its future course while shackled with a $1.04-million working capital deficiency. Worst of all, it was unable to pay the wages of its employees.

However, under a 1984 agreement, Coniagas and affiliate company Quebec Sturgeon River Mines spent $750,000 on mapping, sampling and a 55-hole drill program to earn a 90% interest in the placer gold project.

Quebec City-based Macamic Resources is currently earning a 50% interest by spending $1 million.

As for Prime Potash Corp. of Canada, the record is even more dismal. Formerly Porcupine Prime Mines, it was incorporated in 1965 with authorized capital of 7.5 million shares. Its main interest (held under option from Montreal-based Bison Petroleum and Minerals) was a potash permit covering 98,540 acres in central Saskatchewan.

As reported (N.M., Nov 20/69), shareholders approved a plan to consolidate the company’s capital on the basis of one new share for six old and change the company’s name to Prime Mining Corp. However, the plan was never carried out.

While the company continued to hold onto its Saskatchewan Potash claims, its Ontario charter was cancelled in April, 1975, after Prime Potash had been inactive for some years.

The last known financial report was issued in 1969.