Disseminated on behalf of LaFleur Minerals Inc. (CSE: LFLR) (OTCQB: LFLRF) and may include paid advertising.
- In recent months, the gold market has surged above $4,000 per ounce, with some analysts predicting a possible $5,000 per ounce record during the coming year
- Gold explorer and near-term producer LaFleur Minerals is preparing to restart operations at its flagship operation in the renowned Abitibi Greenstone Belt of Quebec, a prime location in the heart of Val-d’Or’s active gold camp
- The company benefits from a de-risked profile with a district-scale gold exploration project, plus a historically producing, fully permitted, gold mill, forming a vertically integrated gold producer model
- LaFleur will have the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment in January along with assay results from test drilling to help provide guidance as the operation gets up and running during the early part of the coming year
Investors who are long on gold have been enjoying the meteoric rise of the precious metal market this year, which has kept gold over $4,000 for weeks even amid dips for profit-taking (https://ibn.fm/658ng). Some analysts remain optimistic gold will even top $5,000 in the coming months amid a cooling economy, a significant increase over the $1,600 an ounce price post-COVID only three years ago.
“Third quarter supply-demand data supports a continued central bank bid. The positive structural picture shows inelastic demand from central banks and ETF investment diverting supply from the jewelry market,” Deutsche Bank said in a note to clients regarding its forecast for prices to continue to rise (https://ibn.fm/thWDL). “Also, overall growth in demand outpaces supply.”
Gold explorer and near-term producer LaFleur Minerals (CSE: LFLR) (OTCQB: LFLRF) anticipates firing up its flagship operation in the renowned Abitibi Gold Belt of Quebec early in 2026, sourcing material from its district-scale Swanson Gold Project and producing it through its de-risked 750 tpd capacity, fully permitted and refurbished Beacon Gold Mill asset.
The market factors coinciding with the timing of the operation launch are exciting for LaFleur, which is focused on processing its own feed while also contemplating the potential of supplementing its revenues with custom work contracts for other miners working nearby Abitibi claims, given its strategic position in Canada’s largest gold producing belt, flush with nearby gold deposits – a region currently undergoing increasing consolidation and M&A activity such as recently announced IAMGOLD and Fresnillo/Probe deals.
“There is the option to upgrade the mill as we bring more projects into the fold. So certainly, this is just the beginning. … But basically all the technical studies and all the work that we’re doing is focused on Swanson,” LaFleur CEO Paul Ténière said during an October interview with Crux Investor (https://ibn.fm/pNVQx).
“The Beacon Gold Mill is about 45 to 50 kilometers south of Swanson, and from the very beginning, as part of this PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment), we’ve looked at integrating these two projects together. Traditionally they were kind of looked at separately,” he added. “On the geology side, we’re doing a resource update. As part of that, we’re actually doing some twin holes and other additional holes at the Swanson deposit. We’ve got at least a dozen holes that are being done there. We’re more than halfway through that now and we’re just waiting for assay results to come back from that.”
LaFleur expects to have the results of its PEA available in January 2026, just a month away. With the Beacon Gold Mill’s recommissioning already able to draw on existing on-site stockpiles for initial feed and test runs, the company is able to press forward faster than many of its peers toward generating cash flow.
“Sometimes with PEA levels you’ll make assumptions with metallurgical testing — recovery rates based on maybe some older studies that have been done — but in this case we’re actually going to have tangible data,” Ténière said. “There’s cleanup to do, there’s maintenance to do at the mill. … So that everything is tuned up properly, so that when Swanson comes into play in early 2026, everything is running smoothly.”
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.
