[A man wearing a black suit sits in a yellow armchair holding a sparkling rock.]
Jean-Marc Lacoste: This is where everything starts, with the twinkle of a gold speck in a rock. That's how Monarques Gold was born.
[Background music: Classical music.]
[A coniferous forest surrounds the base of a bare stone mountain.]
[Text on screen: When the small player buys the big player.]
[Trucks drive along a dirt road in an open-pit mine.]
Jean-Marc Lacoste: Jean-Marc Lacoste, president and chief manager at Monarques Gold Corporation, Abitibi region.
[Jean-Marc poses, smiling, in front of a glass panel bearing the logo of his company.]
Jean-Marc Lacoste: It was not easy at the beginning because the economic situation at the time did not favour the raw material markets such as the gold industry.
[Jean-Marc unrolls a map on a conference table and examines it with a man and a woman.]
Jean-Marc Lacoste: Desjardins Capital was with us from the start. Marco Gaignard played a vital role in the development of our company. From the start, the initial investment and the birth of Monarques, Desjardins Capital was there for us. They stayed with us throughout the decision process, up until the final climax last year with the acquisition of Richmont Mines.
[Seated at his desk, Jean-Marc speaks on a phone.]
Jean-Marc Lacoste: Throughout the transaction, we felt like the frog that swallowed the ox. It was a transaction that was initiated by a small company in order to buy assets that were much more imposing than us.
[The city of Val d'Or is marked by a black dot on a map of Quebec. An advertising poster bears an aerial photo of an open-air mine surrounded by a forest and the text, "MINE BEAUFOR, more than a million ounces produced."]
Jean-Marc Lacoste: That was quite the feat-- the small player buying out the big one.
[Photos scroll past: two workers walking in an underground mine, a grid pattern drawn on a rock face, a miner kneeling to pick up rock fragments from the ground.]
Jean-Marc Lacoste: What we are most proud of at Monarques is, first and foremost, the people who work with us, the 170 families who work for Monarques and are under my responsibility every day.
[A massive conveyor belt transports rock fragments from an underground mine onto the sandy soil outside.]
Jean-Marc Lacoste: Each year, Monarques produces around 25,000 ounces of gold, which, in the current market, can add up to 30 to 40 million Canadian dollars every year in gold.
[A blowtorch melts gold in a crucible. Stamped gold bars lined up in rows.]
Jean-Marc Lacoste: My advice to young entrepreneurs would be to surround yourselves with people who believe in you. It will give you the wings to carry you to the next step.
[The logo of Monarques is inscribed on a pane of glass; the "M" is shaped like a butterfly with gold-strewn wings.]

[Image on screen: Desjardins Capital logo.]