VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (“West Red Lake Gold” or “WRLG” or the “Company”) (TSXV: WRLG) (OTCQB: WRLGF) is pleased to report that a gold bar was poured using the refinery in the Madsen mill on June 8, 2024. The gold was recovered during the Madsen mill cleanup and gold recovery program (the “Gold Recovery Program”) at its 100% owned Madsen Mine located in the Red Lake Gold District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada.
“It is very exciting to be pouring gold again at the Madsen Mill,” said Shane Williams, President and CEO. “Recovering trapped gold is another validation of the opportunity that’s available for us to unlock at the Madsen Mine. With gold worth approximately US$2,300 per ounce, recovering these ounces from the mill will help bolster our treasury. And the excitement of pouring gold again at the mine is further energizing our team as we push to get Madsen back into production in the second half of 2025.”
FIGURE 1. West Red Lake Gold President and CEO Shane Williams holding the first gold bar poured at the Madsen mill since the Company took ownership of the Madsen Mine in June 2023.
As detailed in a news release on May 2nd, 2024 (Madsen Mill Cleanup Unlocks Significant Value For West Red Lake Gold Mine), West Red Lake Gold undertook a mill cleanup program because of visual evidence that installation and operational missteps by the prior operator in certain parts of the mill had created “traps”, resulting in gold being caught up in these physical traps instead of making it through the mill.
A preliminary mill cleanup in late 2023 recovered 415 troy ounces of gold with proceeds of approximately US$750,000 from material trapped in the mill’s circuits. This prompted a second phase focused on the ball mills and semi-autogenous grinding (“SAG”) mills. Gold was found physically trapped in ill-fitting liners in the ball mill, in the SAG mills, and in uncleaned filters. All of these would have impacted the previous operator’s reconciliation numbers, and all can be minimized or eliminated through installation of proper equipment and mill operations expertise.
Longshot Diamond Drilling specializes in mill cleanups and conducted the cleanup at the Madsen mill. Owner Russell Manderstrom has cleaned over 30 shut-down mills around the world since 1978. Longshot brought a small portable gravity circuit to the Madsen site and used it to separate coarse gold from the milled material collected during the cleanup.
West Red Lake Gold used the gold refinery at the Madsen mill to pour the recovered coarse gold into a gold bar on site. The Company was pleased to see the refinery operating smoothly after 18 months of inactivity.
“Seeing the refinery in action was another check mark on our list of Operational Readiness requirements,” said Shane Williams. “Starting or restarting a mine requires reliable operations from multiple facilities and systems. With over 100 employees at site, constant underground development and drilling, and multiple capital projects underway or in planning, we are establishing the systems that support smooth mine operations. From my experience building and commissioning mines, I know what a difference it makes to a new operation to have such systems in place prior to start up.”
The rest of the collected material, which contains the remaining gold fines, will now be sent off-site for processing. When this off-site processing is complete, West Red Lake Gold will announce the total amount of gold recovered through the mill cleanup program.
FIGURE 2. Photograph of sample concentrate material with coarse visible gold collected as part of the recovery and cleanup program at Madsen Mine.
FIGURE 3. Photograph of gold recovered during the mill cleanup program being poured into a gold bar in the Madsen mill refinery on June 8, 2024.
FIGURE 4. Photograph of the gold bar from the first West Red Lake Gold pour.
QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL
The Madsen Mine deposit presently hosts a National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) Indicated resource of 1.65 million ounces (“Moz”) of gold grading 7.4 g/t Au and an Inferred resource of 0.37 Moz of gold grading 6.3 g/t Au. Mineral resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 3.38 g/t Au and a gold price of US1,800/oz. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Please refer to the technical report entitled “Independent NI 43-101 Technical Report and Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the PureGold Mine, Canada”, prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. and dated June 16, 2023, and amended April 24, 2024 (the “Madsen Report”). The Madsen Resource Estimate has an effective date of December 31, 2021 and excludes depletion of mining activity during the period from January 1, 2022 to the mine closure on October 24, 2022 as it has been deemed immaterial and not relevant for the purpose of the Madsen Report. A full copy of the Madsen Report is available on the Company’s website and on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Will Robinson, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for West Red Lake Gold and the Qualified Person for exploration at the West Red Lake Project, as defined by NI 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:
Freddie Leigh
Tel: (604) 609-6132
Email: investors@wrlgold.com 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.
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 potential of the Madsen Mine and Rowan; any untapped growth potential in the Madsen deposit or the Rowan deposit; the results of further cleanup and recovery at the Madsen Mine; 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.
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9ff3182c-909b-4414-aa4e-988755f93324
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/86cb26f3-e70d-4e83-9eb6-391e996dd82f
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1f4f1b1e-8ea5-4b4a-aa94-933dad48f203
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/81c99928-6f73-4646-a956-adf6fdb2d3d0
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/afe817e3-4937-4cf7-b40f-3daddc8f2d9f
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