Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX: WDO) (“Wesdome” or the “Company”)
today announces the results from recent definition and expansion
drilling of the Falcon 7 Zone, at the Company’s wholly-owned Eagle
River Mine near Wawa, Ontario.
Historically, mineralization of the Eagle River Mine has been
hosted in the mine diorite; however, the Falcon 7 Zone is hosted in
volcanic rocks west of the intrusion. Hence, the discovery and
subsequent development of the Falcon 7 Zone highlights the
prospectivity of the volcanic rocks to host additional gold
mineralization beyond the currently existing footprint of the Eagle
River Mine.
Recent underground development has been completed, confirming
high gold grades and strong mineability. Meanwhile, drilling has
been ongoing to determine the extent of the zone and to increase
confidence of the gold grade distribution. Drilling has continued
to return high grade gold mineralization. Additionally, the
drilling has identified a number of splays and fold noses/limbs
that have the potential to add significantly to the existing
resource base.
Highlights of the recent drilling are listed below and are
summarized in Table 1.
- Hole 640-E-25: 90.2 g/t Au over 4.9 m core length (21.2 g/t Au
capped, 3.4 m true width)
- Hole 640-E-31: 87.1 g/t Au over 6.6
m core length (59.5 g/t Au capped, 5.7 m true width)
- Hole 640-E-32: 49.8 g/t Au over 6.2
m core length (46.4 g/t Au capped, 4.0 m true width)
All assays capped at 125 g/t Au. True widths are estimated based
on 3D model construction.
Mr. Duncan Middlemiss, President and CEO commented, "We are
pleased with the ongoing drilling of the Falcon 7 Zone that
provides additional high grade mining faces in a different area
than the current mining primarily near the bottom of the ramp.
The discovery and initial production from the Falcon 7 Zone
reaffirm the potential of the surrounding volcanic rocks to host
sizeable deposits of gold mineralization, and I remain encouraged
with our ongoing exploration outside of the mine
diorite. The Falcon 7 Zone development is an important
aspect of this operational planning, as it is situated away from
the main mining area at depth, thereby providing a separate work
area away from heavier mine traffic.
The new 355 m Level development is extending 400 m west of the
mine diorite and will provide platforms to test for gold
mineralization further along strike, and for parallel zones where
surface exploration has returned encouraging results from a region
of the mine that has historically been given very little attention.
This is a prospective area and could be the next mining horizon at
the Eagle River mine.”
The Falcon 7 Zone is an important addition to the mine as the
mineral reserves grade is over 13 g/t Au and contains in excess of
100,00 ounces of gold. This extends from approximately 300 metres
below surface to the 1,000-metre elevation and averages 40-50
metres along strike. The upper 300 metres will be tested with the
350-metre exploration ramp is completed. The size and grade of the
Falcon 7 Zone highlights the positive impact of discovering other
parallel zones in this area and the benefit for future operations.
This area remains a high priority for drilling.
As well, the North Contact Zone and the eastern portion of the
mine diorite remain a priority for exploration this year, as does
the surface drilling which continues testing targets elsewhere on
the property.
TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE AND QA/QC
Samples are transported in sealed bags to the Eagle River Mine
assay office in Wawa, Ontario. Samples are analyzed for gold using
standard fire assay technique with gravimetric finish. The
performance of the Wesdome Laboratory is monitored through the
implementation of a quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC)
program designed to follow industry best practices. Wesdome inserts
blanks and certified reference standards into the sample sequence
for quality control at the laboratory. The QA/QC procedure is
described in more detail in the 2022 Technical Report filed on
SEDAR on April 22, 2022.
The technical content of this release has been compiled,
reviewed, and approved by Aliou Sene, P.Geo., Chief Mine Geologist
at Eagle River Complex of the Company and a "Qualified Person" as
defined in National Instrument 43-101 -Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects.
COVID-19
The health and safety of our employees,
contractors, vendors, and consultants is the Company’s top
priority. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Wesdome has adopted
all public health guidelines regarding safety measures and
protocols at all of its mine operations and corporate office. These
protocols are still in place at all sites despite the loosening of
some provincial public health guidelines. In addition, our internal
COVID-19 Taskforce continues to monitor developments and implement
policies and programs intended to protect those who are engaged in
business with the Company.
Through care and planning, to date the Company
has successfully maintained operations; however, there can be no
assurance that this will continue despite the Company’s best
efforts, with the emergence of new, highly contagious variants such
as Omicron. To date, the Company has been impacted by this most
recent variant outbreak, with employees at both operations and
corporate office becoming infected, which may negatively impact our
ability to maintain projected timelines and objectives.
Consequently, the Company’s actual future production and production
guidance is subject to higher levels of risk than usual. The
Company is continuing to monitor the situation closely and will
provide updates as they become available.
ABOUT WESDOMEWesdome is
Canadian focused with two producing underground gold mines.
The Company’s goal is to build Canada’s next intermediate gold
producer, producing over 200,000 ounces from two mines in Ontario
and Québec. The Eagle River Underground Mine in Wawa, Ontario
is currently producing gold at a rate of 95,000 – 105,000 ounces
per year. The Company is currently milling the final stockpile of
ore from the Mishi Pit with 1,000 – 2,000 ounces expected. The
recently re-started Kiena Complex in Val d’or, Quebec is a fully
permitted underground mine and milling operation and the Kiena Mine
is expected to produce 64,000 – 73,000 ounces in 2022. On a
combined basis, 2022 guidance is 160,000 ounces – 180,000 ounces.
Wesdome is actively exploring underground and on surface within the
mine areas and more regionally at the Eagle River and Kiena
Complex. The Company also retains meaningful exposure to the Moss
Lake gold deposit, located 100 kilometres west of Thunder Bay,
Ontario through its equity position in Goldshore Resources Inc. The
Company has approximately 142.5 million shares issued and
outstanding and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the
symbol “WDO,” with a secondary listing on the OTCQX under the
symbol “WDOFF.
For further information, please
contact:
Duncan
Middlemiss |
or |
|
Lindsay
Carpenter Dunlop |
President and CEO |
|
|
VP Investor Relations |
416-360-3743 ext. 2029 |
|
|
416-360-3743 ext. 2025 |
duncan.middlemiss@wesdome.com |
|
|
lindsay.dunlop@wesdome.com |
|
|
|
|
220 Bay Street, Suite 1200Toronto, ON, M5J
2W4Toll Free: 1-866-4-WDO-TSXPhone: 416-360-3743, Fax:
416-360-7620Website: www.wesdome.com
This news release contains “forward-looking information”, which
may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the
future financial or operating performance of the Company and its
projects. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is
expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”,
“intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including
negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements that
certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”,
“might”, or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and
other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance, or
achievements of the Company to be materially different from any
future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied
by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
contained herein are made as of the date of this press release, and
the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or results, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances,
management’s estimates or opinions should change, except as
required by securities legislation. Accordingly, the reader is
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. The Company has included in this news release certain
non-IFRS performance measures, including, but not limited to, mine
operating profit, mining and processing costs and cash costs. Cash
costs per ounce reflect actual mine operating costs incurred during
the fiscal period divided by the number of ounces produced. These
measures are not defined under IFRS and therefore should not be
considered in isolation or as an alternative to or more meaningful
than, net income (loss) or cash flow from operating activities as
determined in accordance with IFRS as an indicator of the Company’s
financial performance or liquidity. The Company believes that, in
addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS,
certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's
performance and ability to generate cash flow
Table 1 - Drill Hole Composites from Falcon 7
Zone
Hole |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Width (m) |
True Width (m) |
Au g/t(Uncapped) |
Au g/t(Capped at 125 g/t) |
640-E-13 |
288.4 |
291.4 |
3.0 |
1.5 |
4.83 |
4.83 |
640-E-18 |
287.3 |
297.8 |
10.5 |
6.7 |
11.38 |
11.38 |
640-E-19 |
181.4 |
183.7 |
2.3 |
1.5 |
8.13 |
8.13 |
640-E-20 |
199.0 |
201.3 |
2.3 |
1.5 |
13.13 |
13.13 |
640-E-22 |
162.9 |
164.6 |
1.7 |
1.5 |
68.34 |
38.05 |
640-E-22 |
182.4 |
184.5 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
7.34 |
7.34 |
640-E-25 |
275.9 |
280.8 |
4.9 |
3.5 |
90.22 |
21.22 |
640-E-28 |
250.5 |
252.3 |
1.8 |
1.5 |
8.42 |
8.42 |
640-E-31 |
236.7 |
243.3 |
6.6 |
5.7 |
87.08 |
59.45 |
640-E-32 |
199.3 |
205.5 |
6.2 |
4.0 |
49.82 |
46.44 |
700-E-94 |
7.2 |
9.3 |
2.1 |
1.5 |
7.45 |
7.45 |
700-E-95 |
4.4 |
6.5 |
2.1 |
1.5 |
24.24 |
21.57 |
700-E-96 |
5.6 |
7.9 |
2.3 |
1.5 |
10.26 |
10.26 |
700-E-97 |
8.3 |
10.1 |
1.8 |
1.5 |
28.00 |
28.00 |
700-E-101 |
7.0 |
9.8 |
2.8 |
1.8 |
46.95 |
38.72 |
700-E-108 |
11.7 |
14.0 |
2.3 |
1.5 |
25.28 |
18.05 |
772-E-98 |
82.0 |
83.7 |
1.7 |
1.5 |
13.59 |
13.59 |
772-E-99 |
80.7 |
82.7 |
2.1 |
1.9 |
33.31 |
33.31 |
772-E-99 |
85.1 |
91.2 |
6.1 |
6.0 |
30.33 |
28.66 |
772-E-100 |
94.7 |
96.8 |
2.1 |
2.1 |
21.42 |
21.42 |
772-E-102 |
74.5 |
80.4 |
5.9 |
5.5 |
21.31 |
16.17 |
772-E-103 |
83.0 |
85.9 |
2.9 |
2.8 |
27.72 |
27.72 |
772-E-104 |
80.8 |
87.6 |
4.9 |
4.6 |
44.81 |
23.74 |
772-E-105 |
86.4 |
88.5 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
29.92 |
29.92 |
772-E-106 |
80.5 |
82.3 |
1.8 |
1.7 |
35.80 |
28.76 |
772-E-107 |
75.7 |
77.8 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
36.36 |
33.69 |
772-E-110 |
77.9 |
79.5 |
1.6 |
1.5 |
9.62 |
9.62 |
772-E-113 |
117.9 |
120.7 |
2.8 |
1.8 |
5.22 |
5.22 |
772-E-115 |
118.3 |
121.7 |
3.4 |
2.6 |
6.61 |
6.61 |
772-E-116 |
131.5 |
133.3 |
1.8 |
1.5 |
7.90 |
7.90 |
772-E-120 |
174.0 |
178.3 |
4.3 |
2.7 |
4.60 |
4.60 |
772-E-121 |
135.2 |
137.2 |
2.0 |
1.5 |
4.26 |
4.26 |
772-E-121 |
144.4 |
148.1 |
3.7 |
2.8 |
14.12 |
14.12 |
772-E-122 |
171.8 |
174.1 |
2.3 |
1.5 |
50.74 |
41.29 |
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/af25badc-faea-4961-8989-78f5e2f87c10
PDF
available: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/9a97a7fa-879c-4979-b5f0-16b20685e9ed
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