The Montauban Project is ESGold’s flagship gold-silver development asset located in Québec, Canada. The project is designed as a fully permitted tailings-to-cash operation, recovering gold, silver, and mica from historic mine tailings while advancing district-scale exploration potential across the surrounding Montauban mining camp.
The project is advancing toward first gold and silver operations targeted in 2026 and is supported by completed infrastructure, strong Preliminary Economic Assessment economics, and a newly defined geological model indicating a much larger mineralized system beneath the historic mine footprint.
Expanded land position to 485 claims covering approximately 244 km² (24,414 hectares)
Montauban combines near-term production from historic tailings with district-scale exploration upside, creating a development pathway that can generate cash flow while expanding the broader mineral system.
The Montauban project is located in Montauban Township in Portneuf County, Québec, approximately:
• 80 km from Québec City
• 60 km from Trois-Rivières
Québec consistently ranks among the most attractive mining jurisdictions globally due to political stability, transparent permitting frameworks, and extensive infrastructure.
Low-cost hydroelectric power
Existing road access
Proximity to skilled mining labour
Established mining infrastructure
Montauban is built around ESGold’s tailings-to-cash model, which converts historic mine waste into revenue-generating mineral production.
Historic operators left large volumes of tailings containing recoverable gold, silver, and mica. ESGold’s processing facility is designed to extract this remaining value while stabilizing and neutralizing legacy mine waste.
The model creates a self-funding development strategy..
This approach reduces reliance on capital markets and allows exploration to be funded through internal revenue.
Significant infrastructure has already been installed at Montauban, positioning the project for commissioning.
20,000 sq ft modular processing facility
1.3 km hydropower service line
All-weather road access
Fully permitted construction & operations
On-site laboratory and gold room
Processing plant rated for 1,000 tonnes per day
The mill building has been completed and the project is advancing toward commissioning. To date, ESGold has invested more than $15 million into developing the Montauban project.
The Montauban processing facility utilizes a Merrill-Crowe recovery circuit, a proven and widely used precious metals processing method.
Mica is separated earlier in the process, creating an additional by-product stream.
Screening and separation
Grinding
Cyanide leaching
Clarification & de-oxygenation
Merrill-Crowe precipitation
Doré production
The 2025 PEA demonstrates strong project economics driven by low capital requirements and favorable operating costs.
Recent integrated geological modelling has significantly expanded the exploration thesis at Montauban.
Ambient Noise Tomography combined with historical drilling and mine data has identified a large mineralized corridor extending approximately 900 metres vertically and more than 2 kilometres along strike.
Key observations include:
• Corridor appears to widen at depth
• Mineralized trends extend to the edge of the model coverage
• System remains open both along strike and at depth
An expanded ANT survey covering approximately 70 km² is planned to extend the model coverage and refine drill targets.
Step-out diamond drilling is anticipated beginning in spring 2026, subject to permitting and logistics.
Historic mining operations left multiple underground pillars containing high-grade mineralization that have not been evaluated using modern exploration methods.
| Zone |
Tonnes |
Au (g/t) |
Ag (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Zone |
274,500 |
2.80 |
15 |
| South Zone |
114,473 |
6.10 |
94 |
| Total |
388,973 |
3.76 |
38.33 |
These zones highlight the potential for additional high-grade mineralization within the district.
Following the new geological model, ESGold expanded its land position to secure structural trends extending beyond the original project boundary.
The Company now controls:
Environmental remediation is a central component of the Montauban project.
The operation is designed to process historic tailings while stabilizing and neutralizing legacy mine waste.
Key ESG benefits include:
Processing historic mine tailings left by earlier operations
Neutralizing and stabilizing
mine waste
Reducing environmental
contamination risk
Repurposing processed tailings into construction materials
Supporting local employment with approximately 30 jobs created
ESGold’s development plan follows a two-phase strategy.
Bring the Montauban tailings operation into production and establish recurring cash flow.
Near-term project milestones include:
To date, ESGold has completed major development milestones:
Over $15M invested into project development
All major permits secured
Processing plant largely installed
Resource verification completed
Metallurgical testing completed
Integrated 3D geological model completed
Land package expanded following modelling results
Montauban combines near-term gold production with district-scale exploration potential.
