MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. announced that it has mobilized personnel and equipment and has initiated an exploration program at its Charlevoix Silica Property located approximately 42 kilometres north of Baie-Saint-Paul, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River, in the Province of Quebec. The Charlevoix Silica Property appears to be underlain by quartzite sequences with multiple quartzite outcroppings that may host an extension of Rogue's Silicon Ridge high-purity quartzite horizons. The current exploration program will sample and describe, where exposed, the quartzite units on the property to further define their chemical and geometrical attributes. The geology on the Charlevoix Silica Property is similar to the geology of Rogue's Silicon Ridge Project and of the Sitec mine. Regionally, a large quartzite unit occurs along a SW NE trend that passes through the Sitec mine, Rogue's Silicon Ridge Project and the Charlevoix Silica Property. The quartzite unit is formed of a series of quartzite sub-units that occur as folded layers, pods and lenses in the high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Grenville Province. The Silicon Ridge Project hosts a measured and indicated resource of 9.7 Mt at 98.6% SiO2 and an inferred resource of 1.6 Mt at 98.56% SiO2 (NI 43-101 Technical report on the Silicon Ridge Mineral Resources Quebec - Canada, June 7, 2016). The Sitec Silica Mine is located within 15 kilometres of the Charlevoix Silica Property and has been in production for more than 50 years. It produces approximately 250,000 tonnes of silica a year and has an estimated future mine life of over 20 years. Silica from the Sitec Mine is shipped to plants in Becancour, Chicoutimi and the United States. Silica produced at Sitec is used at foundries and glass factories as well as in the production of solar panels and high-tech components.