Towards the middle of March, Philippe Cloutier, CEO of Cartier Resources (ECR.V) got on the first of at least a dozen planes flying around the world to market the Cartier story: London, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Hong Kong and Singapore. Cloutier was spreading the word to investors worldwide.
Exploration and development stories take a while to ripen. It is one thing to have targets stretching over 15 kilometres of prime gold ground along the Abitibi belt. But for serious investors to be interested, those targets have to be drilled and the results posted. Which is exactly what Cartier has been doing.
Since September 2025, Cartier has put out ten results-driven news releases, one every two weeks or so. Each reports two or three fairly short holes, all report good to excellent gold values. Most of the holes have encountered relatively shallow gold mineralization.
In the process, Cartier is racking up gold ounces in “inventory” and gaining a profound understanding of the geological structures which host the gold. In its most recent news release, Cartier disclosed the discovery of “a new style of gold mineralization (intrusion-related gold deposits) within the underexplored Pontiac sedimentary Group in Hope Sector”. A style of mineralization which is similar to “large-scale gold mineralization typical of porphyry intrusion-related systems in the Pontiac sediments that are reminiscent of the Canadian Malartic Camp”.
Early days and all, “Sure, we’re drilling in places we had not planned to drill,” said Cloutier in a phone call. “It’s a long shot, but it could be another Canadian Malartic”.
Canadian Malartic was initially developed by Osisko Mining as a huge open pit operation producing hundreds of thousands of ounces of gold per year. It was sold to a partnership between Yamana Gold and Agnico Eagle in 2014, and Agnico bought out Yamana in 2023. It is 25 km West of Val-d’Or and is Canada’s largest gold mine. Here’s a picture for scale:
A gold camp on the scale of Canadian Malartic would transform Cartier, and that is exactly what Cloutier is looking for.
And it is not as long a shot as you might imagine. Malartic was, prior to Osisko’s massive development, an area which hosted several underground gold mines. Mines which were similar to the Chimo mine on the Cadillac Project, which was where Cloutier started drilling up his resource. The Chimo mine went down nearly 1000 meters with 19 levels of workings. It was very typical of the mines on the Abitibi belt.
So, when Cloutier was meeting with one of the two hundred people and groups he spoke to on his round-the-world trip, he had results to discuss and a much larger concept to bring into play. Being able to mention Canadian Malartic in the context of the Cadillac project will perk up the ears of gold mining investors. When Osisko began consolidating the Malartic project in 2004, it was trading as a junior explorer at less than a $1.00, when Canadian Malartic was bought out in 2014, the shares were worth about $8.00.
The Hope Sector is one, somewhat unexpected, part of the overall Cadillac project. You can get a sense of the scope of the potential gold camp from this map:
Cloutier had never taken the Cartier story to Asia. This time he did. He worked with a Hong Kong investment bank, which arranged meetings with institutional investors and family offices. Cloutier was well received wherever he went.
“Clearly, in Asia, there is a real understanding of gold as a store of value,” said Cloutier. “There was no real resistance, but there was uncertainty because of the events in Iran.”
“It was interesting. Great questions,” said Cloutier. “And all the meetings went over their allotted time.”
“One question which came up was “How is the dynamic with Agnico Eagle?” It’s a question I like because Agnico owns 27% of Cartier, and people expect them to buy us out. But our relationship with Agnico is great. Agnico has grown very rapidly, and as long as we stick with our plan, there is no reason for them to buy us out.”
“Another gentleman told me, “We reviewed Cartier six years ago,” I replied that the company had evolved since then. “I know. Why do you think I am here?”
“In fact, we’re setting the stage for a transformative year,” said Cloutier. “Something needs to happen this year. We’re at an inflection point.”
It’s not obvious what that something is. But the recent appointment of Glenn Mullan to Cartier’s Board is suggestive. As Chairman of the Board, Daniel Massé puts it, “As Cartier continues to advance on its strategic path, the appointment of Glenn Mullan represents a meaningful addition to our Board. Glenn brings a highly complementary combination of geological, corporate and capital markets expertise, together with a strong track record of value creation in the mining sector. His insight and experience will be particularly valuable as the Company moves forward with increasing focus, added depth and a clear vision for the future.”
Mullan has led two resource companies to acquisition by larger companies. He is experienced on the royalty side of the game as well.
Transformation can come in many guises. The only thing certain is that Philippe Cloutier will do all he can to ensure that his shareholders benefit from any transformative event.