Cartier Resources (ECR) - Agnico Eagle Follow Their Money

Cartier Resources Inc. is a Canadian gold exploration company focused on the Abitibi Greenstone belt in Quebec. The company’s flagship project, the 100% owned Chimo Gold Mine is located 50 km southeast of the city of Val-d’Or in Quebec. The mine has historically produced just under 400,000 ounces of gold between the 60s and late 90s. Cartier Resources Inc. acquired the property in 2013 from a bankruptcy sale from where it embarked on a large-scale diamond drilling exploration program, consisting of the drilling of 124 exploration holes, which totalled 58,054 m of drilling and resulted in 21,867 samples collected for gold analysis.

Company Overview

Cartier Resources Inc. announced at the beginning of April 2022, that it had signed a definitive share purchase agreement with O3 Mining Inc. for the acquisition of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Chalice Gold Mines Inc., which owns 100% interest in the East Cadillac property contiguous with Cartier’s Chimo Mine property in the Val-d’Or Gold Camp, Quebec. The agreement will see Cartier Resources Inc. holding the largest land position east of Val-d'Or.

The company also concluded with a private placement offering, for the gross proceeds of CAD$ 1,820,000 at the end of May 2022. The offering consisted of the issuing of 14,000,000 units of the company at CAD$ 0.13 per unit. A unit consisted of 1 common share of the company and one-half of a common share purchase warrant. A purchase warrant of the company will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one common share of the company at CAD$ 0.16 for thirty-six months after the closing of the private placement. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. increased its position in Cartier Resources Inc. to 17.7% upon completion of the private placement.

Management

The company is led by Philippe Cloutier who serves as the president, CEO and Director of Cartier Resources Inc.  Cloutier has over 25 years of experience in the mining exploration and development sector, and has worked with industry leaders including Noranda Inc., Aur Resources Inc., and Soquem Inc. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Geology as well as a certificate in Human Resource management. Cloutier was closely involved in the discovery and delineation of the Bell-Allard South Cu-Zn Mine in Matagami, Quebec.

Gaétan Lavallière is the Vice-President of the company and has been involved in mineral exploration for more than 25 years. During his time as Regional Manager at SOQUEM Inc. Lavallière was involved in the discovery of the Brosman and Clairy-Domergue deposits as well as in the generation of high-profile exploration projects including the Moblan lithium deposit in Eeyou-Istchee, James Bay, Canada. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Geology, which he obtained from the Université de Montréal and a PhD in Mineral Resources from the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi.  

Nancy Lacoursière is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Cartier Resources Inc. Lacoursière has over 18 years of experience in both accounting companies as well as in the mining sector. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting she obtained from the University of Québec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

Ronan Deroff is the Project Manager of Cratier Resources Inc. and has been with the company since 2008. He is well experienced in geochemistry, geology and metallogeny and holds a master’s degree in operations and the management of mineral resources (EGERM), from the Université d’Orléans.

The board of Cartier Resources Inc. consists of Jean-Yves Laliberté, Philippe Cloutier, Daniel Massé, Mario Jacob, Michel Bouchard and Myrzah Tavares Bello. Laliberté has more than 30 years of experience in the mining finance and accounting sector, and also serves as Chief Financial Officer for several junior exploration companies.

Daniel Massé is President and CEO of both GFM Groupe Financier, a financial services and financial planning firm and DM Actuariat Inc., a firm specialising in the evaluation of personal injury.

Mario Jacob is the Vice-President and COO of NCP Investment Management as well as President and Director of Maximus Capital Inc., a consulting firm specialising in corporate financing and reorganisation.

Michel Bouchard has been involved in the exploration, development and production aspects of the mining sector for more than 30 years and has held positions at various companies including Aiguebelle Resources Inc., Audrey Resources Inc., Lyon Lake Mines Ltd., SOQUEM Inc. and various others.

The final member of the company’s board, Myrzah Tavares Bello, is also the Vice-President of Sustainable Development and Human Resources at O3 Mining Inc. Bello has more than 20 years of experience in sustainable development, including providing consultation services to the mining, oil and gas and various other sectors.

The management team of the company is tasked with steering the company towards production at its Chimo Mine project.

O3 Mining Agreement

Cartier Resources Inc. announced at the beginning of April 2022, that it had signed a definitive share purchase agreement with O3 Mining Inc. for the acquisition of all issued and outstanding shares of the wholly-owned O3 Mining Inc. subsidiary, Chalice Gold Mines Inc., which owns 100% interest in the East Cadillac property. The property is contiguous with Cartier’s Chimo Mine property in the Val-d’Or Gold Camp, Quebec.

The agreement, which has since been concluded entails the issue of 46,273,265 shares of Cartier Resources Inc. to O3 Mining Inc. The purchase agreement will see O3 Mining Inc., and its parent company the Osisko Group, holding a 17.5% interest in Cartier Resources Inc. The combined land package, resulting from the agreement, is the largest land position east of Val-dOr and brings with it various advantages including an immediate resource increase to 714,400 ounces of gold in the indicated category and 1,527,400 ounces of gold in the inferred category. Philippe Cloutier explains the significance of the agreement to the company as follows:

“This deal means that we eliminate the boundaries, we immediately increase the resource base on the consolidated ground, and then we can continue to explore without any constraints, and basically, also it gives us a new platform for growth because we’ve just acquired a land package that exposes us to 25 km to 30 km continuous stretch of the Cadillac Fault, so the immediate potential to keep growing the ounces from 2.2 to 3, in the short-term, and even to 4 and 5, but the next steps will be to try and evaluate the potential for other Larder Lake, Cadillac type targets along that stretch.”

Cloutier believes that the agreement with O3 Mining Inc. is advantageous to the company, especially with the new exploration potential the Cadillac Fault offers to the company, he states:

“It’s a long-lived, very prospective system and I think that the partnership that O3 Mining Inc. and Cartier Resources Inc. have just established with this consolidated ground is a message that, hey listen, from now on, we can grow and join our efforts to keep building ounces on that part of the fault.”

Private Placement Financing

Cartier Resources Inc. announced at the end of May 2022, that it had concluded with a private placement offering for the gross proceeds of CAD$ 1,820,000. The offering consisted of the issuing of 14,000,000 units of the company at CAD$ 0.13 per unit. A unit consisted of 1 common share of the company and one-half of a common share purchase warrant. A common share purchase warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the company at CAD$ 0.16 for thirty-six months after the closing of the private placement. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. also increased its position in Cartier Resources Inc. during the private placement offering to 17.7% upon its completion. Cloutier believes that the results of the private placement offering continue to show the value of Cartier Resources Inc. to the market.

“They have readjusted their position to 17.7%, so they are now leading the game in terms of ownership of Cartier. … So, it sends a message. Obviously, the recently consolidated Agnico and Kirkland Lake is a much bigger company, but it’s in their backyard. I’m very proud of the fact that they continue to support this adventure.”

The conclusion of the private placement offering has resulted in Cartier Resources Inc. having a cash position of more than CAD$ 7 million. The company plans to implement the proceeds of the private placement towards exploration initiatives at the Chimo Mine project.

Planned drilling program

Cartier Resources Inc. has to date conducted approximately 60,000 m of drilling at its Chimo Mine project, which has included the drilling of 124 exploration holes for the collection of 21,867 samples sent for gold analysis. The addition of the East Cadillac property from the O3 Mining Inc. purchase agreement adds another 20,000 m of exploration drilling history to the project. Cloutier explains

“…we drilled about 124 holes, just under 60,000 m, delineated 2 million ounces. They did not have the benefit of the infrastructure, the past production. Nonetheless, they did approximately 20,000 m and in about just CAD$ 5M or CAD$ 6M of exploration and did confirm there is additional Chimo-like mineralisation over a 15km strike length.”

The company plans to initiate an exploration program at the consolidated land package, with Cloutier explaining that the company has the capital, thanks to its private placement offering, to initiate an exploration program aimed at growing the Chimo Mine project’s resource base.

“…well, we have that money in the bank. Because we are proximal to a mining camp with infrastructure and manpower, we get the better of the drilling contract, so we’re able to advance the project, and make it better and more robust at a lower cost. It made a lot of sense.”

Future initiatives and updated PEA

Cartier Resources Inc. recently announced that it had awarded InnovExplo Inc. the mandate to complete a NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Nordeau West deposit, which forms part of the consolidated Chimo Mine property and contiguous East Cadillac property. The updated mineral resource estimate will be incorporated into the resource estimate parameters whilst taking into account the lateral proximity of the existing and projected mining infrastructures of the Chimo Mine property. The company plans to implement the updated MRE towards a preliminary economic analysis (PEA) for the project.  Cloutier explains that the release of the PEA was scheduled for 2021, but due to the planned acquisition of the East Cadillac property, its release was delayed, he states:

“We launched a PEA in November last year, and then immediately afterwards we started working on the consolidation. As the engineers were constructing the PEA and the tables, when I came in, when we announced the consolidation, they said, ‘Hey, wait a minute, there’s a deposit here. It significantly tips the numbers. We propose,’ I’m talking about the consultants - ‘We propose that you delay it, you let us readjust the resource estimate, consolidate it with yours because there’s a rule, you cannot have more than 1 current NI 43-101 on a given project.”

Cartier Resources Inc. plans to deliver a new resource estimate as well as to conduct various geochemical test work at the Chimo Mine project in the future. The geochemical test work will enable the company to launch the permitting of an exploration drilling program and eventual mine development. The company will publish the Chimo Mine project’s PEA thereafter. Cloutier sums up the company’s approach regarding the completion of its future initiatives as follows:

“We’ve decided to focus on doing good work, good technical work, and doing it in the most cost-efficient way, and I think that’s the best way to reward our shareholders. I think that’s what attracted the Osisko Group and Agnico - it’s our signature work and that’s all I have to say about that. The retail will do what they do. I hope they will believe in the Cartier story.”

To find out more, go to the Cartier Resources website