Disclosure: LaFleur Minerals Inc. has paid FRC a fee for research coverage and distribution of reports. See last page for other important disclosures, rating, and risk definitions.
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Qualified Person: Louis Martin, P.Geo. (OGQ), Exploration Manager and Technical Advisor of LFRL
Price and Volume (1-year)
Portfolio Summary
An advanced-stage gold project with a permitted mill, located in Quebec’s prolific Abitibi mining camp
Located in the southern part of the Abitibi Gold Belt, close to majors such as Agnico Eagle (NYSE: AEM), and Eldorado (NYSE: EGO), as well as developers like Probe Gold (TSX: PRB)
We believe a key advantage of the Swanson gold project (18,300 hectares across 445 claims and a mining lease) is its district-scale exploration potential, which aligns seamlessly with the Beacon mill to enable a relatively rapid, low-CAPEX path to production.
The Swanson property is 66 km north of the city of Val-d’Or; the mill is located 50 km from Swanson. Established infrastructure including access to several gold mills, roadways, rail connections, and power lines
The property includes surface and underground infrastructure, including a 500 m ramp to the deposit 80 m below surface
Open-pit resources totaling 119 Koz indicated, and 29 Koz inferred, with relatively high-grades
The current resource envelope measures 475 m long x 425 m wide x 500 m deep; 84% of resources are open-pittable. We believe the project has resource expansion potential as the deposit remains open at depth, and along strike
Qualified Person: Louis Martin, P.Geo. (OGQ), Exploration Manager & Technical Advisor of LFLR
Source: Company
We believe the project has resource expansion potential as the deposit remains open at depth, and along strike. Past drilling has intersected broad zones of mineralization below the current pit shell
LFLR has commenced a 5,000+ m resource expansion drill program, targeting 50 prospects across Swanson, Jolin, Bartec, and Marimac. Management aims to delineate a gold resource exceeding 1 Moz for the project.
In addition, the property hosts two gold showings with historical resources, and several other targets
LFLR is currently conducting geological and engineering planning for an 80,000-100,000-tonne bulk sampling program at Swanson, with processing planned at the Beacon mill. Data from this program will support an upcoming PEA, and mine plan.
Bulk sampling underway at Swanson. Mill restart on track for early 2026
Management is finalizing mill restart plans, with six to eight months of repairs and maintenance anticipated. Factoring in Swanson pre-development, we estimate total restart costs at US$10M, half our previous US$20M estimate, driven by recent progress and an independent C$4M mill restart assessment. First production is targeted for early 2026.
LFLR is also pursuing toll milling opportunities from nearby advanced-stage gold projects to generate additional cash flow from the Beacon Mill. Potentially compatible deposits are shown on the map below.
Options for early cash flows through toll milling. Multiple upcoming catalysts
Near-Term Plans
Financials
$2M in cash and liquid assets at the end of March 2025. The company is planning a $5M debt financing, and a $5.55M equity raise. In-the-money options and warrants can bring in up to $9M
FRC Valuation
Our DCF model returned a fair value estimate of $1.04/share (previously $0.83/share), driven by our higher long-term gold price forecast of US$2,500/oz (previously US$2,000/oz), and a lower CAPEX estimate
Our valuation is highly sensitive to gold prices. We are not conducting a comparables valuation, as, unlike LFLR, most juniors lack access to a mill
We are reiterating our BUY rating, and raising our fair value estimate from $0.83 to $1.04/share. LFLR has made significant progress toward restarting production at the Beacon gold mill, targeting early 2026. Despite recent gains in its share price, we believe the market continues to undervalue both the mill, and the Swanson project, creating an attractive opportunity ahead of key catalysts — especially with gold prices near record highs.
Risks
Maintaining a risk rating of 4 (Speculative)
We believe the company is exposed to the following key risks (not exhaustive):
