LaFleur Minerals Appoints Andrew Elinesky as Chief Executive Officer and Provides Update on Beacon Gold Mill Recommissioning Work and Swanson Bulk Sample Progress
LaFleur Minerals Appoints Andrew Elinesky
as Chief Executive Officer and Provides
Update on Beacon Gold Mill Recommissioning
Work and Swanson Bulk Sample Progress
Beacon Mill recommissioning reaches over 95% completion;
Trafigura completes site visit
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 9, 2026) -
LaFleur Minerals Inc. (CSE:
LFLR) (OTCQB: LFLRF) (FSE: 3WK0)
("
LaFleur Minerals
" or the "
Company
") is pleased to
announce the appointment of Andrew Elinesky as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company,
effective immediately. The Company is also pleased to provide updates on recommissioning activities
at its Beacon Gold Mill and the recently completed site visit by Trafigura Canada Limited ("Trafigura") as
part of its ongoing due diligence for the proposed prepayment and gold doré offtake arrangements.
Appointment of Andrew Elinesky as Chief Executive Officer
The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Elinesky as Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Elinesky brings more than two decades of senior executive and financial leadership experience with
public companies in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, with a strong track record of
building and leading companies through financing, acquisitions, operational development, and corporate
growth. He has extensive experience overseeing corporate strategy, capital allocation, financial
operations, government relations, ESG initiatives and post-transaction integration, providing a broad
operating perspective.
Most recently, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director of Sabre Gold Mines
Corp. (TSX: SGLD), owner of the fully permitted Copperstone gold project in Arizona, where he led the
company from near bankruptcy and through its reorganization and eventual acquisition by Minera
Alamos Inc. (rebranded to
Mining Americas Inc
) in February 2025. Previously, he was Chief Financial
Officer of numerous publicly listed companies, including McEwen Mining where he spent eleven years in
progressively senior leadership roles. During his tenure at McEwen Mining, including five years as
Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer and as Vice President, Argentina, he was responsible
for significant aspects of the company's corporate and operational activities, including financial and
administrative oversight of the San José mine, equity and debt financings exceeding $150 million,
acquisitions, operational development, government relations and ESG functions. He has served on
numerous company boards and currently serves as a director and chair of the audit committee of
Canadian Copper Inc.
He also has held various senior leadership and treasury roles at Heinz UK,
Diageo, and Worldcom UK. Andrew graduated from Oxford Brookes University.
As CEO of the Company, Mr. Elinesky will assume responsibility for corporate strategy, capital markets,
financing and investor relations with the allocation of authority as approved by the Board of Directors.
Paul Ténière, M.Sc., P.Geo., who previously served as CEO, will continue as President and a Director of
the Company. Mr. Ténière will oversee all technical and operational matters of the Company, including
the Swanson bulk sampling program and permitting/environmental studies, ongoing exploration and
drilling programs, and the Beacon Gold Mill recommissioning program.
Andrew Elinesky, CEO of LaFleur Minerals stated, "
I am very excited to join LaFleur Minerals at such
an important point in the Company's development. LaFleur Minerals has assembled a compelling
platform in the Abitibi Gold Belt as it progresses toward near-term gold production and still has
significant opportunities for growth. I look forward to working closely with the team to execute on this
strategy and build LaFleur Minerals into a successful and sustainable gold developer. Having spent
my career helping public companies raise capital, complete transactions and advance operations, I
am particularly excited about the opportunity to apply that experience to building value at LaFleur
Minerals and delivering on the Company's production and growth objectives.
"
The Company has granted Mr. Elinesky 2,000,000 incentive stock options to purchase common shares
of the Company in accordance with its 10% rolling stock option plan at an exercise price of $0.40 per
share for a term of 5 years vesting over the next two years. The stock option grant is subject to the
policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE").
Trafigura Site Visit
On August 10 and 11, representatives of Trafigura and LaFleur Minerals' management team completed
a site visit to the Beacon Gold Mill and Swanson Gold Project. The two-day site visit included inspection
of the mill and process circuits, review of recommissioning progress, and inspection of the ongoing
diamond drilling program at the Swanson Deposit. The Company and Trafigura continue to progress
due diligence regarding the previously-announced proposed prepayment and gold doré offtake
arrangements. There is no assurance that definitive agreements will be entered into, or on the terms
currently contemplated.
Photos from Trafigura site visit in August 2026:
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Beacon Gold Mill Recommissioning Update
Recommissioning of the Beacon Gold Mill has reached over 95% completion on an average per-item
basis. The grinding, crushing, ore storage, and thickening circuits are essentially complete, with the rod
and ball mills re-lined and charged, the jaw and cone crushers overhauled, and conveyors, chutes and
feeders rebuilt or replaced. Work on the leaching, filtration, clarification, and reagent circuits is
substantially advanced, including installation of new agitator mechanisms and air lifts and re-clothing of
both primary drum filters. The Company expects to complete full recommissioning at the Beacon Gold
Mill in Q4 once the remaining activities are completed in the mill and all necessary repairs and upgrades
are completed at the tailings storage facility.
Swanson Gold Project Update
Work at the Company's Swanson Gold Project continues to advance on several fronts including baseline
studies and permitting activities for the surface bulk sample. Recent diamond drilling has intersected
gold mineralization outside the pit shell used in the Company's Preliminary Economic Assessment
(PEA). Any impact on mineral resources will be assessed in a future mineral resource estimate.
The PEA referenced herein for the Swanson Gold Project is preliminary in nature and includes inferred
mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations
applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty
that the results of the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have
demonstrated economic viability.
The Company's current drilling programs are being met with excellent results as reported in previous
news releases including
May 12,2026 news release
which outlined drilling results including:
Drilling Highlights:
2.95 g/t Au over 80.00 metres (SW-25-085)
2.37 g/t Au over 88.05 metres (SW-25-086)
1.29 g/t Au over 93.85 metres (SW-25-087)
0.86 g/t Au over 103.55 metres and 1.14 g/t Au over 56.65 metres (SW-25-090)
For details of the sampling, analytical and QA/QC procedures, and drill hole collar and orientation data,
refer to the Company's
May 12,2026 news release
and filed on SEDAR+.
Additional drilling results will be released once assay results are received from the laboratory.
Kal Malhi, Chairman of LaFleur Minerals stated, "
As LaFleur Minerals targets near-term gold
production,
Andrew's arrival comes at a pivotal moment for LaFleur Minerals' growth trajectory. With
the Beacon Gold Mill approaching restart and our financing discussions with Trafigura and others, we
sought a chief executive who has taken public companies through exactly this transition, and Andrew
has done it, most recently taking Sabre Gold from a struggling developer and restructuring and
eventual sale to a major gold producer. I am extremely excited at the prospects for LaFleur Minerals'
growth and believe we have assembled a strong executive team with Andrew as CEO, Paul as
President, and Marc Ducharme as VP of Exploration. This gives us a solid foundation for growth and
to deliver strong results within the Abitibi Gold Belt.
"
Qualified Person Statement
The scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release was reviewed and approved by
Marc Ducharme, P.Geo. (OGQ), Vice President of Exploration for LaFleur Minerals and considered a
Qualified Person under NI 43-101. The QP has verified the analytical data underlying the drilling assay
results disclosed in this release by reviewing the Company's QAQC protocols, core and sample logs,
original assay certificates, and assay database. The QP notes no sampling or recovery issues with the
drilling and assay data disclosed in this news release.
About LaFleur Minerals Inc.
LaFleur Minerals Inc. (CSE: LFLR) (OTCQB: LFLRF) (FSE: 3WK0) is focused on the development of
district-scale gold projects in the Abitibi Gold Belt near Val-d'Or, Québec. The Company's mission is to
advance mining projects with a laser focus on our PEA-stage Swanson Gold Project and the Beacon
Gold Mill, which have significant potential to deliver long-term value. The Swanson Gold Project includes
a total of 481 claims and 1 mining lease (200.7 km
2
in size) and includes several prospects rich in gold
and critical metals previously held by Monarch Mining, Abcourt Mines, and Globex Mining. LaFleur has
consolidated a large land package along a major structural break that hosts the Swanson, Bartec, and
Jolin gold deposits and several other showings which make up the Swanson Gold Project. The Swanson
Gold Project is easily accessible by road allowing direct access to several nearby gold mills, further
enhancing its development potential. LaFleur Minerals' Beacon Gold Mill is capable of processing over
750 tonnes per day and is being considered for processing mineralized material from Swanson and for
custom milling operations for other nearby gold projects. LaFleur recently released the results of a
positive Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Company's Swanson Gold Project and the
planned restart of the Beacon Gold Mill. The PEA referenced herein for the Swanson Gold Project is
preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative
geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized
as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the results of the PEA will be realized. Mineral
resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
ON BEHALF OF LAFLEUR MINERALS INC.
Andrew Elinesky
Chief Executive Officer
E:
T: 1 (604) 805-4602
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All
statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are generally identified by words such as "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes",
"intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "proposed", "scheduled", and similar expressions, or
statements that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur.
Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding:
the completion of remaining due diligence items by Trafigura; the negotiation and execution of
definitive documentation in respect of the Proposed Agreements, including the Prepayment Facility
and the Offtake Agreement; the anticipated terms, timing and completion of the Proposed
Agreements; the planned restart of the Beacon Gold Mill; the potential processing of mineralized
material from the Swanson Gold Project and custom milling for other projects; the advancement and
development of the Swanson Gold Deposit; and the results and potential realization of the Company's
preliminary economic assessment (the "PEA").
Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions, including that: the parties will
complete due diligence satisfactorily; the parties will negotiate and execute definitive agreements; all
necessary internal, regulatory and stock exchange approvals will be obtained; financing and capital
will remain available on acceptable terms; gold prices, exchange rates and input costs will be
consistent with the Company's expectations; permitting and operational assumptions, including those
underlying the PEA, will be realized; and no material adverse change will occur.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause
actual results to differ materially, including, without limitation, that: due diligence may not be
completed satisfactorily or the site visit may identify matters that affect the proposed transaction;
definitive agreements may not be entered into; required approvals may not be obtained; financing
may not be available, or may be available only on terms less favourable than anticipated; the
assumptions underlying the PEA may prove incorrect; commodity price and foreign exchange
volatility; permitting, technical, operational and cost-escalation risks; capital market conditions; and
general economic, market and business conditions. Additional risk factors are described in the
Company's continuous disclosure filings available under its profile on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca
.
Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are based on the beliefs,
estimates and opinions of management on that date. Except as required by applicable securities
laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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