Intermittent exploration fieldwork has been conducted on the Beaufor property since the 1930s. Following an initial development period, commercial production started at the Beaufor Mine in January 1996. In spring 2001, Richmont Mines bought 50% of the mining rights of the Perron, Beaufor, Pascalis, Colombière and Courvan properties for an amount of $1.8 million. In September 2001, Richmont Mines undertook construction work to secure the crown pillar and commercial production resumed at the Beaufor Mine jointly with Louvem Mines in January 2002. The Beaufor Mine has produced gold on an annual basis since then.

Gold-bearing veins at the Beaufor mine consist of quartz-tourmaline-pyrite veins, typical of Archean epigenetic lode gold deposits, that cross-cut the Bourlamaque Batholith. Mafic dykes that predate the mineralization are associated with shear-hosted gold-bearing veins. Shallow dipping extensional gold-bearing veins are commonly observed at the Beaufor mine. Shear zones striking N070o and steeply dipping to the southwest control the opening and gold enrichment of veins.

Highlights

• Since its discovery, the production of this deposit almost reached one million ounces of gold.
• Richmont Mines obtained promising results at the Beaufor Mine in 2007 and in 2008. Richmont has planned approximately 45,000 additional meters of drilling for 2009, of which more than the half is dedicated to verify the depth potential in the Q zone.

Download the reserve and resource table as of December, 31 2008

Download the 43-101 technical report (Available in French only)


Shematic Section of the Beaufor Mine





Longitudinal Section of the Q Zone of the Beaufor Mine





Photos from the Beaufor Mine infrastructure




The Camflo Mill

Ore from the Beaufor Mine is processed at the Camflo Mill located approximately 49 kilometres from the mine site. Richmont Mines owns a 100% interest in Camflo Mill Inc. The Camflo Mill, with a rated capacity of 1,300 short tons per day, is a Merrill-Crow conventional type mill with circuits for crushing, grinding, gold cyanidation and precipitation using zinc powder. The historic average rate of recovery of the mill is 98.5% when ore from the Beaufor Mine is being milled.

Photos from the Camflo Mill infrastructure