• Hole MK-20-259 intersects 8.46 g/t Au over 13.8 metres, including 132 g/t Au over 0.8 metres.
• Recent intersection shows continuity, located 50 metres south of the previous intersection of 13.95 g/t Au over 14.35 metres (MK-20-255).
• Mineralized envelope continues to expand, with new intersections outside of the limits of the current resource estimate.
• Results are pending for six drill holes of the Phase 1 12-hole drilling program totalling 5,912 metres. Phase 2 program of 8,700 metres to start in April or May, following spring break-up.

MONARCH MINING CORPORATION (TSX: GBAR) (OTCMKTS: GBARF) is pleased to announce the first set of results from its 2020-2021 exploration diamond drilling program on its wholly-owned McKenzie Break project, located 25 kilometres north of Val-d’Or, Québec. The results include several significant intersections as Monarch continues to expand the high-grade section of the recently estimated resource towards the south, east and west.

“We are very pleased that we have been able to expand the mineralized envelope beyond the limits of the previous resource estimate with wide intersections from holes like MK-20-259, and that there is continuity between drill holes, even with 50-metre step-outs,” said Jean-Marc Lacoste, President and Chief Executive Officer of Monarch. “We are continuing to follow and expand this high-grade section of the resource estimate by drilling, and will also be testing similar features elsewhere on the newly-expanded property.”

Phase 1 diamond drilling was carried out on 50-metre step-out holes, with 5,912 metres drilled. Assay results are available for 6 of the 12 holes drilled. The most significant result includes 8.46 g/t Au over 13.8 metres from hole MK-20-259, drilled 50 metres south of hole MK-20-255, which had returned an assay of 13.95 g/t Au over 14.35 metres (see press release dated July 23, 2020). Strong results were also obtained 50 metres west of hole MK-20-255, with 19.5 g/t Au over 1.0 metre and 7.83 g/t Au over 1.0 metre in hole MK-20-257. Other significant results are shown on figure 1 and in table 1, below.

Figure 1: McKenzie Break property with recent assay results.

Table 1: Significant assay results

Table 2: Drill hole location

Gold mineralization occurs in an elongated diorite unit or lens within a shallow embayment of the Pascalis Batholith. Monarch continues to have drilling success beyond the limits of the recent resource update provided by Geologica and GoldMinds (see table 3 and press release dated February 8, 2021). The Corporation will continue drill testing the limits of the mineralized envelope as well as other priority targets on the property, including targets on the newly-staked claims to the south (see press release dated March 8, 2021), with its 8,700-metre Phase 2 drilling program. Drilling is expected to resume in April or May following the spring break-up.

Table 3: Combined resources (in-pit and underground) by category for the McKenzie Break deposit at the selected cut-off grades

The resource estimate was prepared by Merouane Rachidi, P.Geo., Ph.D., and Claude Duplessis, P.Eng., of GoldMinds Geoservices Inc., both qualified persons in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 standards.

Sampling consists of sawing the NQ-size core into equal halves along its main axis and shipping one of the halves to the AGAT Laboratories in Mississauga, Ontario for assaying. The samples are crushed, pulverized and assayed by fire assay, with atomic absorption finish. Results exceeding 3.0 g/t Au are re-assayed using the gravity method, and samples containing visible gold grains 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 Louis Martin, P.Geo., the Corporation’s qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.

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.

Table 4 – Monarch combined gold resources