VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (“West Red Lake Gold” or the “Company”) (TSXV: WRLG) (OTCQB: WRLGF) is pleased to provide an update on restart readiness activities, including the in-progress bulk sample, at its 100% owned Madsen Mine project in the Red Lake Gold District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada.
“With test mining underway, bulk sample stockpiles building on surface, and the mill set to initiate campaign processing in the coming weeks, we have achieved many key operational milestones at the mine site,” said Shane Williams, President and CEO. “The connection drift development and test mining efforts have been very successful to date, which is a testament to our mine crews’ ability to operate safely and efficiently. I’m proud to say that the ramps, sills, and stopes we are developing at Madsen are best in class.”
“Things are increasingly busy across the site with final installation work underway for the camp and mine dry facilities, mine engineering picking up pace, and a headcount that stands at 185 employees and 50 contractors currently active on site. The team is excited to get the bulk sample complete, which is expected to demonstrate that our approach to mining at Madsen works, followed by rolling into production mining and processing with an aim to start selling gold into this record price environment, where gold is selling for over CAD$4,100 per ounce today.”
Bulk Sample
The bulk sample program includes plans to mine at least 10,000 tonnes of material from six stopes.
The Company prioritized parts of the Madsen resource for extraction early in the mine life based on grade, tonnage, and ease of access. These areas saw access development, definition drilling, and mine engineering over the last 16 months and now constitute the mineral inventory in the 12-month detailed mine plan.
The bulk sample program targets stopes in three such areas: the 1099/1100 area of the Austin resource, the 1407 area of the McVeigh resource, and the 987 area of the South Austin resource.
FIGURE 1: Long section showing part of the Madsen Mine deposit with bulk sample areas highlighted. Modern workings (post 2019) shown in green; Connection Drift in blue.
Bulk sampling from several areas amplifies the benefits of test mining by:
- Testing drill density and modeling techniques for different zones of the deposit,
- Allowing crews to deploy the range of mining methods that will be used at Madsen, and
- Helping to solidify mining procedures in proximity to old workings by validating historical data and confirming geotechnical competence assumptions (with respect to both void and backfilled historical stopes).
At present, 3,380 tonnes of bulk sample material are on surface from two stopes. The remaining stopes will be drilled, blasted, and mucked over the coming weeks.
“The first stopes mined have provided valuable insights into the effectiveness of the drill and blast designs, the geological modelling techniques, and the overall development processes required,” said Maurice Mostert, Vice President Technical Services. “Initial results are showing that our drill and blast techniques and design criteria are very effective at controlling fragmentation size and dilution.”
FIGURE 2: Bulk sample stockpiles at the Madsen Mine site.
West Red Lake Gold has engaged independent third-party engineering contractors Entech Inc. and Soutex Inc. to audit the mining and processing portions of the bulk sample process, respectively.
Entech is monitoring the mining schedule and providing third-party QA/QC on all sampling and stoping activities. Soutex will review all processing plans and will supervise operations and analyses.
“The bulk sample program is our first opportunity to demonstrate that our Madsen Mine approach, based on intensive definition drilling, clear confidence and financial requirements for mine engineering, and appropriate mining methods, can deliver the expected tonnes and grades to the mill,” said Williams. “We hired Entech and Soutex because we want the results of this bulk sample to be further substantiated by third party independent review.”
FIGURE 3: An underground sampler measuring interval length along the sampling line across an ore face.
Mill Startup for Bulk Sample Processing
The mill is scheduled to restart later this month, after 28 months of maintained dry shutdown. First feed will be 3,000 tonnes of legacy low-grade material to pack out the grinding mills and establish dead beads in the process tanks. Feed will then transition to low-grade material mined by West Red Lake Gold.
Once re-commissioned, the mill will process the bulk sample. Each stope will be processed individually to enable full reconciliation calculations between expected and actual tonnes, grades, and ounces.
West Red Lake Gold has completed multiple pre-commissioning projects and tests at the mill. This includes replacing the mill liners and discharge lines, reclaiming water feed lines, recycling process water through the system, revitalizing the CIP circuit, carbon circuit, and carbon kiln, reassembling the flocculant and reagent systems and leach agitators, and commissioning the refinery.
“All operational readiness milestones have been met for the process plant,” said Hayley Halsall-Whitney, Vice President Operations. “The facility is fully staffed and ready for this first phase of mill operations.”
Connection Drift 80% Complete
The Connection Drift, the largest of the capital projects supporting restart of the Madsen Mine and a cornerstone of West Red Lake Gold’s approach to efficient mine operations, is now 80% complete. To date 1,148 metres have been completed, of the 1,440-metre total length. The project remains on track for completion by the end of March 2025.
“The Connection Drift is a best-in-class haulage way,” said Mostert. “This large cross-section, moderately inclined, straight ramp with sufficient passing bays will optimise our trucking operations. I am extremely proud of the quality of work our teams have put into this key project.”
The Connection Drift is a 1.4-km haulage way connecting the small historic West Portal, which through extensive workings provides access to most parts of the Madsen mine, and the East Portal, a modern portal from which development only extends a modest distance into one resource area.
With the Connection Drift, West Red Lake Gold will be able to move all material on large haul trucks through the East Portal, which is situated close to the crusher and the mill.
Underground Development
The ability to develop access to mining areas efficiently and accurately is essential in an underground mine, in particular a mine where the deposit necessitates multiple working faces. For this reason, West Red Lake Gold focused in H2 2024 on increasing the pace of underground development, while maintaining strong emphasis on safety and quality.
The effort has generated good results. In January 2024 new development at the mine averaged just over 4 metres per day. This increased modestly to 6.6 metres a day by mid-2024.
From August 2024 to January 2025 the pace of new underground development increased notably, with average daily meterage rising 23% each month. In January underground development averaged above 20 metres per day and the pace continues to increase.
FIGURE 4: Total underground development at the Madsen mine by month.
Camp and Mine Dry Installations
The last outstanding construction permit for the Madsen Mine camp was received from the Municipality of Red Lake on January 31st. Final installation work is now underway, which is primarily power, water, sewer, and propane connections.
The Company expects to start housing workers in the camp in the second half of March, pending receipt of an occupancy permit that is in progress. The camp is a 114-person facility. It offers individual rooms with ensuite bathrooms for each worker, a kitchen and dining hall, and recreation space.
The mine dry facility is largely constructed. Once a final permitting requirement is met, the Company expects to be able to complete the installation and have the facility in service for miners transitioning in and out of shifts by the end of February.
FIGURE 5: The dining hall of the Madsen mine camp, with accommodation buildings visible behind.
QUALIFIED PERSON
The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Maurice Mostert, P.Eng., Vice President of Technical Services for West Red Lake Gold and the Qualified Person for technical services at the West Red Lake Project, as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
ABOUT WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. is a mineral exploration company that is publicly traded and focused on advancing and developing its flagship Madsen Gold Mine and the associated 47 km2 highly prospective land package in the Red Lake district of Ontario. The highly productive Red Lake Gold District of Northwest Ontario, Canada has yielded over 30 million ounces of gold from high-grade zones and hosts some of the world’s richest gold deposits. WRLG also holds the wholly owned Rowan Property in Red Lake, with an expansive property position covering 31 km2 including three past producing gold mines – Rowan, Mount Jamie, and Red Summit.
ON BEHALF OF WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES LTD.
“Shane Williams”
Shane Williams
President & Chief Executive Officer
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Gwen Preston
Vice President Communications
Tel: (604) 609-6132
Email: [email protected] or visit the Company’s website at https://www.westredlakegold.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT AND FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information generally can be identified by words such as “anticipate”, “expect”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “planned”, and similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events. Forward-looking information is based on current expectations of management; however, it is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information in this news release and include without limitation, statements relating to the plans and timing for the potential restart of mining operations at the Madsen Mine, the potential (including the amount of tonnes of material from the bulk sample program) of the Madsen Mine; the benefits of test mining; the timing for the completion of the Connection Drift; the timing of completion of the Madsen Mine Camp; any untapped growth potential in the Madsen deposit or Rowan deposit; and the Company’s future objectives and plans. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Forward-looking information involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking information. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, market volatility; the state of the financial markets for the Company’s securities; fluctuations in commodity prices; timing and results of the cleanup and recovery at the Madsen Mine; and changes in the Company’s business plans. Forward-looking information is based on a number of key expectations and assumptions, including without limitation, that the Company will continue with its stated business objectives and its ability to raise additional capital to proceed. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Additional information about risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company’s management’s discussion and analysis for the year ended November 30, 2023, and the Company’s annual information form for the year ended November 30, 2023, copies of which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
The forward-looking information contained herein is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking information reflects management’s current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable law.
For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company’s continuous disclosure filings that are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
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