Monarch Intersects High-Grade Gold on its Beaufor Property, Including 187.0 G/t Au Over 0.5 M (1.64 Feet) and 151.5 G/t Au Over 0.5 M (1.64 Feet)

• Corporation intersects multiple high-grade gold intersections from underground and surface exploration drilling.
• Best high-grade results include 187.0 g/t Au over 0.5 m, 151.5 g/t Au over 0.5 m and 147.5 g/t Au over 0.3 m.
• Monarch has initiated Phase 2 of the surface drilling program to follow up on the recent near-surface results.
• The 42,500-metre drilling program is ongoing, with four drills underground and one on surface.

MONTREAL, April 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - MONARCH MINING CORPORATION ("Monarch" or the "Corporation") (TSX: GBAR) (OTCMKTS: GBARF) is pleased to announce additional results from its 2020-2021 42,500-metre exploration diamond drilling program on its wholly-owned Beaufor Mine gold project, located 20 kilometres east of Val-d'Or, Québec. The results include several high-grade assays, including 187.0 g/t Au over 0.5 m, 151.5 g/t Au over 0.5 m and 147.5 g/t Au over 0.3 m, as Monarch continues to test for potential resources in proximity to the historical mine.

The Beaufor Mine initially began commercial production in the early 1930's and over the years has produced over 1.1 million ounces of gold. The mine is currently on care and maintenance, which has given Monarch an opportunity to drill-test targets throughout the mine area. In June 2020, the Corporation initiated a 42,500-metre diamond drilling program to test two types of targets: the areas around historical high-grade intersections near the existing underground infrastructure, and isolated resource blocks, which are typically defined by a single drill intersection. Both of these "near-mine" targets can often be tested from the existing underground workings, generally by holes less than 200 metres long. Currently, 275 holes are planned or are already being drilled at 25-metre centres. If positive results are received, additional holes will be drilled to allow the zones in question to be converted into reserves and included in a future mine plan.

Assay results have been received for the first 121 holes (14,465 m), representing roughly 34% of the planned metres of drilling. High-grade results previously reported from the program included 783 g/t Au over 0.2 m and 293 g/t Au over 0.5 m (see press release dated October 1, 2020) and 35.87 g/t Au over 9.8 m (see press release dated January 19, 2021). Since the last reported results, the Corporation has drilled 83 additional holes (9,092 m), consisting of 79 exploration holes drilled from underground and 4 holes drilled from the surface. The best results are shown in Table 2 below and illustrated on the attached figures. Several of the holes have multiple intersections due to the stacked nature of the mineralization. The intersection widths reported are core lengths and high-grade intersections have not been capped, as the vein interpretation and statistics have not been finalized for the zones.

Figure 1: Beaufor property recent assay results (longitudinal view looking N)  
Figure 2: Beaufor property recent assay results (sectional view looking NW)

"We are thrilled with the results received to date. Our near-mine exploration drilling program continues to yield high-grade results as we intersect new mineralized zones and extensions of known zones outside the previously defined resource envelope. Monarch's goal is to significantly increase the near-mine resource so that a minimal amount of new development and capital will be required to put the mine back into production in the short term," said Jean-Marc Lacoste, President and Chief Executive Officer of Monarch.

Near-mine exploration drilling is ongoing, with four drill rigs underground and one on surface. The focus remains on high-grade composites that are open along strike and existing resource blocks that contain sufficient room for expansion.

In April, Monarch initiated a Phase 2 surface drill program to follow up on recent positive near-surface results, including 35.87 g/t Au over 9.8 m (see press release dated January 19, 2021). This Phase 2 program consists of approximately 40 short holes totalling 4,000 m with the aim of defining additional resources and subsequent reserves.

Sampling consists of sawing the drill core into equal halves along its main axis and shipping one of the halves to ALS Canada in Val-d'Or and AGAT Laboratories in Mississauga, Ontario, for assaying. The samples are crushed, pulverized and assayed by fire assay, with atomic absorption finish. Samples exceeding 10.0 g/t Au are re-assayed using the gravity method and samples containing visible gold are assayed using the metallic screen method. Monarch uses a comprehensive QA/QC protocol, including the insertion of standards, blanks and duplicates. 

The technical and scientific content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Christian Tessier, P.Geo., the Corporation's qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.

About Beaufor
The Beaufor Mine is located within the Bourlamaque Pluton at the eastern contact with the Dubuisson Formation. The Bourlamaque Batholith, a synvolcanic intrusion, is a major geological feature of the Val-d'Or mining camp. It is a quartziferous granodiorite cut by fine-grained dioritic dykes. Gold mineralization occurs in veins associated with shear zones dipping moderately south. Mineralization is associated with quartz-tourmaline-pyrite veins resulting from the filling of shear and extension fractures. Gold-bearing veins show a close association with mafic dykes intruding the granodiorite. A National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate for the Beaufor Mine property was prepared for Monarch Mining in December 2020 by Carl Pelletier, P. Geo., InnovExplo Inc., and John Langton, P. Geo., JPL GeoServices Inc. The mineral resource estimate is listed in the table below.

Table 1: 2020 mineral resource estimate for the Beaufor Mine

Mineral Resource Estimate notes:

1. The independent and qualified person for the 2020 MRE, as defined by NI 43-101, is Carl Pelletier, P.Geo. (InnovExplo Inc.), and the effective date is December 18, 2020.
2. These mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. The mineral resource estimates follow CIM Definition Standards and Guidelines.
3. A capping of 68.5 g/t Au on assays was applied for zones 8, B, M, M1 and Q, and 34.25 g/t for all other zones. The DDH intercepts (min. 2.4 m) were capped at 16.5 g/t.
4. The estimate method was polygonal on cross-sections with a minimum width of 2.4 m using a density of 2.75 t/m³ for the 63 mineralized zones.
5. Measured resource polygons extend 8 m above and below development and up to 10 m laterally. Indicated resource polygons extend up to 20 m from DDH intercepts, along dip and along strike and a minimum of 2 polygons need to be in contact. Inferred resource polygons extend up to 40 m from DDH intercepts, along dip and along strike where a drill spacing ranges from 20 m to 40 m and/or in areas of isolated drill holes where mineralization is known.
6. The reasonable prospect for an eventual economical extraction is met by having a reasonable minimum width for the polygons, a cut-off grade of 3.20 g/t Au, application of constraining volumes on the blocks (potential underground scenario) below a 30 m crown pillar. The cut-off grades inputs are: a gold price of USD1,612/oz, a CAD:USD exchange rate of 1.34; a mining cost of $100/t for the long hole method and $145/t for the room and pillar method; a processing cost of $50/t; and G&A and environment of $13/t and includes the royalty of 1.0% and a refinery charge of $5/t. The cut-off grades should be re-evaluated in light of future prevailing market conditions (metal prices, exchange rate, mining cost, etc.).
7. Results are presented in situ. Ounce (troy) = metric tons x grade / 31.10348. The number of tonnes and ounces was rounded to the nearest hundred. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding effects; rounding followed the recommendations as per NI 43-101.
8. InnovExplo Inc. is not aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issue that could materially affect the mineral resource estimate.

About Monarch
Monarch Mining Corporation (TSX: GBAR) is a fully integrated mining company that owns four advanced projects, including the fully permitted past-producing Beaufor Mine, which has produced more than 1 million ounces of gold over the last 30 years. Other advanced assets include the Croinor Gold, McKenzie Break and Swanson properties, all located near Monarch's wholly owned and fully permitted Beacon 750 tpd mill. Monarch owns 28,725 hectares (287 km²) of mining assets in the prolific Abitibi mining camp that host 588,482 ounces of combined measured and indicated gold resources and 329,393 ounces of combined inferred resources.

Forward-Looking Statements
The forward-looking statements in this press release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Monarch's actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied therein. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Table 2: Beaufor Mine significant assay results

Table 3: Beaufor Mine drill hole location

Table 4: Monarch combined gold resources

SOURCE Monarch Mining Corporation

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