On 22 September 2020, Mont Royal Resources Limited (ASX:MRZ) announced that the Company had entered into a binding JV option agreement with Azimut Exploration Inc. (TSXV: AZM), to earn-in up to 70% of the Wapatik Gold-Copper Project, located in James Bay area, a tier 1 mining jurisdiction of Quebec, Canada.

Highlights

• Located in the world class, mining-friendly jurisdiction of Quebec, Canada
• Mont Royal earning up to 70% of the Wapatik Gold-Copper project
• 220 claims totalling 115sq/km in continuous tenure
• Underexplored with highly limited modern exploration
• Located over the lower Eastmain greenstone belt, part of the Archean Superior Province
• Geological formation which hosts Azimut’s Elmer project extends east to west associated with high magnetic/iron formations
• A linear scale fault has been interpreted as striking from Elmer property into the Wapatik property (west-to-east)
• Five faults identified on the eastern side of the property
• The transaction will enable Mont Royal to deploy its cash position via the earn-in partnership arrangement, whilst leveraging off Azimut’s strong technical exploration team, to unlock the full potential of the Wapatik project
• Transaction conditional upon Mont Royal gaining shareholder approval at the upcoming Annual general meeting.

Location & Infrastructure

The Wapatik Gold-Copper Project consists of 220 claims totalling 115sq/km in continuous tenure, and is located in the James Bay-Eeyou Istchee region, in the lower Eastmain Greenstone belt, part of the La Grande Sub-province of the Archean Superior Province, which has been subject to significant exploration activity.

The project is located 93 km east of the Eastmain airport and 58 km SW from the Éléonore Gold mine (Newmont Corporation NEM.US). Importantly, the Project resides approximately 12 km from the Patwon gold discovery on Elmer property (Azimut Exploration AZM.TSX), allowing excellent access to personnel, equipment and exploration camp infrastructure offering attractive cost efficiencies to Mont Royal. Three powerlines crosscut the property (LG2 dam).

Regional Geology

• Located over the lower Eastmain greenstone belt, a part of the Archean Superior Province
• The same formation hosting Patwon extends east to west, associated with high magnetic/iron formations
• A linear scale fault has been interpreted as striking from the Elmer property into the Wapatik property (west-to-east)
• Five faults identified on the eastern side of the property NW-SE antiform regional fold on the eastern part of the property

Geology

The most prospective unit appears to be the Kauputauch Formation, which is the same formation that hosts the Patwon discovery, with the formation extending from East to West, and conductors associated with high magnetic and iron formations to the west. A regional scale linear fault is interpreted as striking from the Elmer to the Wapatik properties. The geological targets will be shear-hosted gold, intrusion-related copper-gold and copper-goldmolybdenum porphyry systems.

Previous work conducted at the property consists of regional geological mapping, geophysical surveys covering the western and the eastern sides of the property, regional lake-bottom-sediment geochemical surveys and rock chip sampling.

Mont Royal is very pleased to be working with such a technically sound partner as Azimut, in a highly sought-after region of the Quebec province, with the Company further attracted to the excellent road, power and exploration camp infrastructure at the Elmer property, which is expected to deliver cost efficient exploration and provide year-round access.

Quebec Canada

Quebec ranks second to Ontario in terms of provincial gold production in Canada, with Quebec producing 33.7% of Canada’s gold in 2018, at some 2.16 million ounces, led by Canada’s largest producer, Agnico Eagle Mines, which has three producing mines in the province. Significant amounts of exploration capital have been invested into Quebec explorers due to the province’s combination of geological potential, legal stability, supportive permitting environment, infrastructure and fiscal incentives.

Figures from Natural Resources Canada show that investment in exploration, deposit appraisal and mine complex development are projected to increase by 30% this year to C$560.9 million, compared to $432.4 million in 2019. The province of Quebec also invests directly in explorers through funds like Resources Quebec, which manages a $1 billion Natural Resources and Energy Capital Fund, Caisse du Depot, Sidex and the James Bay Investment Board¹.

• One of the most active regions for Gold and Copper exploration in Canada
• A world-class jurisdiction for exploration and future project development
• Very low geopolitical risk
• Access to (less) dilutive ‘Flow-through’ capital
• Highly supportive Mining Tax act – allowing deduction of exploration and development expenses
• Well understood mining regulatory environment
• Access to very cheap Hydro-electric power
• Highly skilled workforce
• Application of modern exploration near-mine or at depth

Map 4 – The Mont Royal board has been active in Quebec since 2012 allowing a competitive edge and a thorough understanding of the pro-mining jurisdiction

Historical Exploration

Azimut has conducted extensive data processing of the James Bay region over 176,300sq/km by applying its proprietary technology, AZtechMine™ expert system, a pioneer data processing and analytics methodology that uses large geoscientific databases, which can be precisely tuned to model the footprint of undiscovered mineral deposits.

The AZtechMine™ approach ensures efficient identification of high-quality targets in the most prospective areas, with the main parameters used for modelling including Government numerical databases combined with the Azimut’s proprietary database, such as multi-element lake-bottom sediment (LBS) geochemistry, magnetism, gravity and mineral occurrences database. The AZtechMine™ proprietary process has been validated over 15 years with greater than 500 new showings and more significantly with the recent exploration success achieved at the Elmer property, following the Patwon discovery in January 2020.

Details below of the 7 holes reported the Patwon Discovery2:

• Hole ELM19-001 0.62 g/t Au over 101.3 m (from 13.5 m to 114.8 m)
• Hole ELM19-002 3.15 g/t Au over 102.0 m (from 34.0 m to 136.0 m)
• Hole ELM19-003 2.84 g/t Au over 108.2 m (from 34.3 m to 142.5 m)
• Hole ELM19-004 1.68 g/t Au over 97.0 m (from 5.0 m to 102.0 m)
• Hole ELM19-005 1.54 g/t Au over 54.1 m (from 28.4 m to 82.5 m)
• Hole ELM19-006 1.15 g/t Au over 129.0 m (from 5.0 m to 134.0 m)
• Hole ELM19-007 1.93 g/t Au over 82.0 m (from 21.0 m to 103.0 m)

Regional Geology – James Bay Area, Quebec, Canada. (Source: Azimut Exploration 2020

Fast Tracked Exploration
Mont Royal Resources intends to fast track exploration on the project with:

• Heli-borne electro magnetic survey to commence immediately
• Follow up imagery/interpretation
• Geo-chemical survey:
  • Lake Bottom survey
  • Tills survey
  • Soils survey
  • Reconnaissance prospecting
• Ground Geophysics
• Drill location targeting/planning

Regional Magnetic & Vertical Gradient Map (Source: Azimut Exploration 2020)