VAL-D\u2019OR, October 14, 2025. SOQUEM, a subsidiary of Investissement Qu\u00e9bec, is pleased to announce the results of its winter 2025 exploration drilling program on the Lesp\u00e9rance-Lac Shortt project (the \u201cproject\u201d). The wholly owned project is located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory (Desmaraisville sector) in Quebec, Canada.<\/p>\n
Highlights:<\/p>\n
Boyvinet area: Hole 1435-24-018 intersected 0.70 g\/t Au over 39.7 m, including 1.46 g\/t Au over 16 m, and hole 1435-25-020 intersected 1.19 g\/t Au over 8.0 m and 1.13 g\/t Au over 14.0 m, demonstrating the potential for gold west of the Lac Shortt deformation corridor.<\/p>\n
Boyvinet West area: Hole 1435-24-013 intersected an interval of 0.91 g\/t Au over 19.5 m, including 1.48 g\/t Au over 10.7 m, confirming the presence of a gold-bearing shear zone recently modelled using historical data.<\/p>\n
Lesp\u00e9rance Breccia area: Infill drilling confirmed the presence of a shallow gold-bearing zone. Hole 1435-25-027 intersected 3.32 g\/t Au over 7.3 m, including an interval with visible gold, and hole 1435-25-028 intersected 6.33 g\/t Au over 10 m.<\/p>\n
The project is situated in the Abitibi Subprovince, in the Caopatina-Desmaraisville greenstone segment (Nelligan and Philibert deposits), at the junction of the Opawica-Guercheville and Wedding-Lamarck regional deformation corridors. The project lies 5 km west of the former Lac Shortt mine (historical production of 400,000 ounces of gold, DV 2010-01) and 8.5 km northeast of the former Bachelor mine (historical production of approximately 350,000 ounces of gold, SLR 2021), where an ore processing plant with a capacity of 800 tpd is under care and maintenance.
\nThe aim of the exploration program, which was completed in March 2025 and comprised 24 drill holes for 5,240.5 m, was to evaluate the gold potential of the Boyvinet, Boyvinet West and Lesp\u00e9rance Breccia areas and continue evaluating exploration targets.
\nBoyvinet area
\nThe gold-bearing zones in the Boyvinet area occur near the Lac Shortt deformation corridor, which trends east-west with a steep dip to the north. The corridor runs along the northern part of the Boyvinet Stock, host to several gold showings for which the proposed metallogenic model combines characteristics of gold-related intrusive systems (IRGS) and orogenic deposits.
\nDuring this program, five (5) holes, totalling 1,575 m, were drilled to evaluate the westward continuity of the gold-bearing zones, where historical drilling intersected grades such as 0.74 g\/t Au over 10 m and 1.02 g\/t Au over 14.8 m (BV-93-39), and 1.00 g\/t Au over 12.95 m (BV-08).
\nFour of the five holes encountered gold-bearing zones, with best results of:
\n\u2022 Hole 1435-24-017: 0.96 g\/t Au over 5.9 m
\n\u2022 Hole 1435-24-018: 0.70 g\/t Au over 39.7 m, including 1.46 g\/t Au over 16 m, at the interface between the overburden and bedrock.
\n\u2022 Hole 1435-25-020: 1.19 g\/t Au over 8.0 m and 1.13 g\/t Au over 14.0 m
\n\u2022 Hole 1435-25-021: 0.92 g\/t Au over 15.0 m
\nThe mineralized zones, within a corridor of 1.4 km long, correspond to basalts and diorites\/gabbros whose primary textures are obliterated by intense and pervasive alteration (albite, hematite, potassium feldspar, ankerite and silica) and contain trace amounts to more than 5% of finely disseminated pyrite.
\nBoyvinet West area<\/p>\n
In the Boyvinet West area, five (5) holes totalling 723 m were drilled to evaluate the continuity of a shallow gold zone, recently modelled from historical data. Historical hole BV-16, drilled in 1990, intersected a fault zone grading 1.34 g\/t Au over 16.06 m starting at 28.29 m, including a richer section grading 2.42 g\/t Au over 6.56 m.
\nAll holes intersected the mineralized zone, confirming the new geological interpretation. The gold zone, trending 315\u00b0N with a dip of 35\u00b0, is now interpreted over a strike length of 375 m and remains open to the NW and SE. The best results are:
\n\u2022 Hole 1435-24-013: 0.91 g\/t Au over 19.5 m, including 1.48 g\/t Au over 10.7 m
\n\u2022 Hole 1435-24-015: 0.67 g\/t Au over 13.1 m, including 4.26 g\/t Au over 1.2 m<\/p>\n
Lesp\u00e9rance Breccia area
\nEleven (11) holes, totalling 2,348.5 m, were drilled to continue evaluating the copper-gold potential of the breccia. The work confirmed two types of mineralization are present: 1) gold mainly associated with an intensely altered zone of albite, carbonate, sericite and pyrite, with the alteration masking the nature of the protolith. 2) copper-gold zones related to breccias rich in magnetite\u00b1hematite, pyrite, epidote-chlorite and chalcopyrite, associated mainly with volcano-sedimentary units. This Cu-Au mineralization can be interpreted as the expression of an early skarn system developed in breccias and mafic lavas.<\/p>\n