Kinross Gold starts drilling at West Point project in Nevada
West Point Gold Corp. [WPG-TSXV, WPGCF-OTCQB, LRA0-FSE] said a subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corp. (K-TSX, KGC-NYSE) has begun drilling on West Point’s Jefferson Canyon project in Nye County, Nevada.
On Thursday, West Point shares advanced on the news, rising 6.7% or $0.08 to $1.28. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $2.17 and 43 cents.
The Jefferson Canyon project is located 7.0 kilometres from Kinross’s Round Mountain operations. The project has 145 historic drill holes, which have defined multiple zones of mineralization, highlighted by multiple significant drill intercepts, including 41.2 metres at 6.4 g/t gold and 401 g/t silver. In 2022, West Point entered into an exploration and option agreement with Kinross, which can acquire 70% of the project for a cash payment of US$5.0 million to West Point and form a joint venture, and a second option to acquire an additional 10% of the project for a future payment of US$5.0 million.
The term of the agreement is four years commencing from receipt of drill permits, with a potential extension of up to two years, subject to certain conditions. Drill permits were received on August 19, 2026. If a joint venture is formed and either party is diluted below 10%, its interest converts to a 1.0% net smelter return royalty.
Jefferson Canyon contains a large volcanic-hosted epithermal gold-silver system that is essentially the same age as the nearby Round Mountain deposit, a world class low-sulfidation epithermal deposit.
“We are excited that drilling has begun at West Point Gold’s Jefferson Canyon Project,’’ said West Point President and CEO Derek Macpherson. “The historical drilling and work we previously completed suggest this project has the potential to deliver a significant deposit,” he said. “Given the project’s proximity to Kinross’s Round Mountain mine and our partnership on the Jefferson Canyon project with Kinross, we believe the hurdle rate to define a mineable deposit is relatively low.’’
West Point holds 100% earn-in option to purchase agreements on three gold projects, the Jefferson Canyon and Tip Top projects in Nevada and the Gold Chain project in Arizona. It also holds a 32.3% stake in the Greyhound Project, Nunavut, under a joint venture with Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM-TSX, AEM-NYSE).
In a September 9, 2026 press release, West Point said it plans to start the next phase of drilling at its Gold Chain project. It said this program will combine reverse circulation drilling and core drilling for a total of 30,000 metres. The focus of the drilling is to expand both the high-grade NE Tyro and Tyro Main zones to depth and along strike. Additional targets are expected to include Black Dyke, Sheep Trail, Bull 8 and the Frisco Graben. “Each represents an opportunity to grow the resource base beyond the upcoming initial estimate, which will only be based on the 20,696 metres drilled to date at Tyro,” Macpherson said.