Beauce Gold Fields Announces 2026 Sonic Drilling Program to Commence on Saint-Simon-les-Mines Paleoplacer Gold Channel

Québec City, Québec — October 8, 2026 — Leads & Copy — Champs d’Or en Beauce (Beauce Gold Fields) is set to commence the initial phase of its 2026 sonic drilling program targeting the Saint-Simon-les-Mines paleoplacer gold channel in southern Quebec. The program is slated to begin after November 15, 2026, following the conclusion of the local hunting season.

The initial drilling effort is anticipated to encompass approximately 20 to 30 sonic boreholes. These will be concentrated on a one-kilometer western portion of the paleoplacer channel, which extends for nearly six kilometers, primarily within the De Léry and Chaussegros sectors.

The primary objective of the program is to test gold-bearing basal sedimentary horizons, saprolite, and fractured bedrock. It will also investigate interpreted tributary, confluence, and deltaic deposit structures within the selected segment of the paleovalley. Some historical boreholes will be twinned to enable a comparison between modern sonic drilling results and historical geological and gold data.

The De Léry–Chaussegros sector was chosen due to its alignment with several priority geological features and its extensive coverage by historical drilling and geophysical surveys. Beauce Gold Fields intends to expand the sonic drilling to other paleoplacer sectors in 2027. The company has secured the necessary authorization for impacts exploration (ATI) from the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests for the planned drilling activities.

Patrick Levasseur, President and CEO of Champs d’Or en Beauce, stated, “This is a significant and very exciting step for Champs d’Or en Beauce. For the first time in decades, we will systematically drill the historic Saint-Simon-les-Mines gold channel using modern sonic methods to directly test its gold potential and the geological foundations of our current exploration target. This district has historically produced significant quantities of coarse gold, including large nuggets, but much of the paleoplacer remains underexplored by modern standards. We believe this program has the potential to significantly improve our understanding of the channel and help demonstrate the scope and importance of the Saint-Simon-les-Mines paleoplacer system.”

The sonic drilling program will be informed by integrated historical drilling data, geological interpretation, and geophysical surveys previously conducted in parts of the De Léry and Chaussegros sectors. Since 2013, the National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS) conducted electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and induced polarization (IP) surveys in portions of the Saint-Simon-les-Mines paleoplacer sector. Subsequent geophysical work included additional ERT, gravity, and related surveys, which aided in interpreting overburden thickness, paleovalley geometry, and bedrock structure.

These datasets, combined with historical drilling from Beauce Placer Co., the Geological Survey of Canada, Coniagas, and Macamic, provide a crucial geological framework for positioning the initial sonic boreholes. In July 2026, Beauce Gold Fields announced plans for a refraction and reflection seismic survey prior to sonic drilling. However, following further technical and financial analysis, the company opted to postpone this seismic program due to significant cost increases associated with engaging a third-party blasting company for the seismic source.

Beauce Gold Fields has divided the Saint-Simon-les-Mines paleoplacer channel into five primary sectors for exploration purposes, each representing an area where an interpreted present or ancient tributary discharged into the paleovalley from its north flank. These sectors include De Léry, Chaussegros, Saint-Gustave, G80–G85, and Rang 6.

The current program follows the company's updated technical assessment for the Saint-Simon-les-Mines paleoplacer channel, which estimated an exploration target ranging from 4,004,674 to 5,991,229 cubic meters, with grades between 2.02 g Au/m³ and 12.0 g Au/m³. This exploration target is based on the interpretation of historical drilling, geological modeling of the Gilbert River paleovalley, polygonal volumetric calculations, and the evaluation of gold-bearing saprolite and basal sediment units, all prepared by Jean Bernard, geo., an independent qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.

The potential quantity and grade of the exploration target are conceptual in nature. Exploration work completed to date is insufficient to define a mineral resource, and there is no guarantee that additional exploration work will result in the delineation of a mineral resource. The Saint-Simon-les-Mines paleoplacer channel is considered the heart of Canada’s first gold rush district, with historical mining from the 1860s to the 1960s yielding significant quantities of coarse gold, including large nuggets. The company’s geological model suggests that gold mineralization within the paleoplacer system is concentrated in basal gravel horizons, saprolitic bedrock, and traps within fractured bedrock along the paleovalley floor.

Jean Bernard, B. Sc., geo., an independent qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release. Beauce Gold Fields is focused on exploring and developing the most significant placer gold district in eastern North America, aiming to trace ancient placer gold workings to their lode source to discover economic lode gold deposits. The company's flagship project is the Saint-Simon-les-Mines gold project, the site of Canada's first gold rush. The Beauce region hosted some of the largest placer gold operations in eastern North America from the 1860s to the 1960s, producing some of the largest gold nuggets in Canadian mining history.

Source: Beauce Gold Fields