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The Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec drew a wave of exploration investment during the lithium boom. Less noticed is that the district’s anchor mine is a gold mine, and that gold exploration across the region has been accelerating again. This guide profiles the producing mine and the district’s most advanced gold explorers, those with defined gold mineral resources or drill programs currently underway, and Lux Metals’ own La Grande Gold Project — included because Lux publishes this guide.

Lux Metals Corp. publishes this guide as a participant in the district. Every company below is presented factually from its own public disclosure; nothing here is a recommendation, ranking, or comparison of investment merit. Information regarding companies other than Lux Metals is drawn from public sources and has not been verified by Lux Metals or its qualified persons. Lux has no current mineral resource estimate on La Grande.

The producer: Éléonore

Dhilmar Ltd (private) | Éléonore Mine

The district’s anchor asset. Éléonore is an underground mine that has produced gold since 2014 and ranks among the largest gold mines in Quebec. Dhilmar, a UK-based private mining company, acquired the operation from Newmont for US$795 million in cash in a transaction completed in the first quarter of 2025. A producing mine of this scale sustains the district’s workforce, contractors, and services that every explorer in the region draws on.

The newest entrant: Lux Metals

Lux Metals Corp. (TSXV: LXM) | La Grande Gold Project

Lux Metals is among the most recent gold exploration companies to enter the James Bay district, completing its acquisition of the La Grande Gold Project in February 2026. La Grande covers 15,357 hectares along more than 40 kilometres of prospective Archean greenstone belt in the La Grande Subprovince, transected by the all-season Trans-Taiga Road and close to hydroelectric infrastructure.

The project hosts the Zone 32 gold system, where previous operators completed 253 diamond drill holes totalling 52,472 metres between the mid-1990s and 2015, concentrated on roughly two kilometres of the 40-kilometre trend. Historical results are reported as downhole lengths and were generated by previous operators. In 2026, Lux received drill permits for La Grande and completed a surface exploration program of geological mapping, structural analysis, and rock and soil sampling across portions of the property with limited historical exploration. Assay results from that program are pending. The company has also outlined a 5,000-metre drill program focused on expanding the Zone 32 mineralized envelope down-plunge and along strike, infill drilling within the known system, and testing parallel structures within the broader tonalite corridor.

Active gold explorers in the district

Listed alphabetically. Inclusion reflects a defined mineral resource or a drill program underway at the time of writing; stage descriptions reflect each company’s most recent public disclosure.

Azimut Exploration (TSXV: AZM) | Elmer Project

Azimut discovered the Patwon gold zone through maiden drilling in 2019 on the 100%-owned Elmer property and has since advanced it to a resource-stage deposit. The 2023 initial mineral resource estimate¹ for Patwon comprises Indicated resources of 311,200 ounces at 1.93 g/t gold and Inferred resources of 513,900 ounces at 1.94 g/t gold. In January 2026, Azimut announced a 10,000-metre diamond drill program aimed at expanding the deposit; the company described the program as underway in its May 2026 disclosure, with an updated resource estimate and a preliminary economic assessment contingent on results. Azimut also holds a broader James Bay portfolio including the Fortin antimony-gold zone and the Rosa gold zone on its Wabamisk property, both discovered since 2024, and counts Agnico Eagle and Centerra Gold among its strategic shareholders.

Fury Gold Mines (TSX and NYSE American: FURY) | Eau Claire, Éléonore South, Sakami

Fury describes itself as the largest gold-focused explorer in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory, with a Quebec portfolio of more than 157,000 hectares. Its flagship Eau Claire project reached the preliminary economic assessment stage in 2025, and in 2026 the company commenced a Phase 2 drill program of 15,000 to 25,000 metres at Eau Claire alongside pre-feasibility study work announced in June 2026. Fury also holds the Éléonore South project approximately six kilometres south of the Éléonore mine and published an initial mineral resource estimate at its Sakami project in December 2025.

Sirios Resources (TSXV: SOI) | Cheechoo Project

Sirios’ 100%-owned Cheechoo gold project sits less than 15 kilometres from the Éléonore mine and hosts a gold deposit with an updated mineral resource estimate announced in July 2025. Sirios announced a two-phase drilling campaign totalling 35,000 metres for 2026 and early 2027 and began the first phase, an approximately 25,000-metre expansion program, in early June 2026, intended to support an updated resource estimate and a preliminary economic assessment targeted for the first half of 2027. The company also holds interests in the PLEX, Fagnant, and Aquilon projects in the region.

Why the district keeps attracting gold explorers

The through line across these companies is infrastructure. The lithium investment cycle left the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region with expanded road access, hydroelectric power, airstrips, camps, and an experienced local workforce and contractor base. Gold explorers operating in the district today, including Lux Metals at La Grande, benefit from year-round access and services that explorers in remote greenfields settings must build from scratch. For investors researching James Bay gold stocks, that shared infrastructure base is a structural advantage of the district as a whole. Quebec’s broader permitting and investment framework adds to the picture; see our guide to gold exploration in Quebec.

To learn more about Lux Metals’ flagship asset in the district, visit the La Grande Project page, or read our related articles on the Zone 32 gold system and gold exploration in the James Bay region. The full series is available in our articles hub.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Information concerning companies other than Lux Metals Corp. is derived from those companies’ public disclosure and other public sources, has not been verified by Lux Metals or its qualified persons, and may change without notice. Mineralization on other properties in the district is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the La Grande Project. Historical drill results at La Grande were generated by previous operators and are reported as downhole lengths; true widths are unknown. This article contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding planned exploration programs and studies by Lux Metals and other companies, which involve risks and uncertainties and are qualified in their entirety by the cautionary language in Lux Metals’ continuous disclosure filings on SEDAR+.

Company information in this article is accurate as of July 23, 2026, based on public disclosure available at that date, and Lux Metals Corp. assumes no obligation to update or revise this article except as required by applicable securities laws.

¹ Technical Report and Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the Patwon Deposit, Elmer Property, Québec, Canada, InnovExplo Inc., dated January 4, 2024. Figures shown use a US$1,800 per ounce gold price. Azimut's 2023 estimate also presents a sensitivity case at US$2,160 per ounce yielding higher tonnages and ounces at lower grades. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability. Mineralization on the Elmer property is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the La Grande Project.