West Red Lake outlines plans for Madsen gold mine
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. [WRLG-TSXV] has outlined some of the key mine infrastructure and development projects the company plans to undertake at Madsen mine in Red Lake, Ont., in the near to medium term with funds from recent financings.
West Red Lake said it aims to restart the mine in the second half of 2025. The company is currently working on a pre-feasibility study, detailing that restart plan, which is targeted for release in early 2025.
The company said it has identified the mine site projects of scale that will be critical to the restart plan. West Red Lake will be starting work on these critical path projects in the coming weeks and months, alongside the consistent drilling, exploration, and engineering work that is informing the prefeasibility study and outlining potential project enhancements in the future.
“With the funds raised in our recent financings, including $10 million in Canadian Development Expense flow-through funding, we are excited to get started on these important projects,’’ said West Red Lake President and CEO Shane Williams.
“With a year of work under our belts at Madsen, we know what needs to be procured, built and developed at the mine site over the next six to 12 months to achieve our goal of restarting the mine in 2025,’’ he said.
The update comes roughly one year after West Red Lake reached a binding deal with bankrupt Pure Gold Mining Inc. and Sprott Resource Lending Corp. to acquire the Madsen mine, an operation which produced 2.5 million ounces between 1938 and 1976. Pure Gold previously sought protection under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) after reporting operational challenges at Madsen, Pure Gold brought the mine back into production in December 29, 2020.
The list of key infrastructure and development projects envisaged by West Red Lake includes a 1,200-metre haulage way to connect the East and West portals/declines that the Madsen mine, thereby increasing material haulage efficiency, ventilation and safety.
The company plans to install a permanent primary crusher as part of the Madsen mill, which previously relied on a temporary leased crusher.
Plans include shaft rehabilitation. The company said it will continue the process of dewatering the mine and rehabilitating the existing shaft, which is now certified to move people for the purpose of inspecting shaft conductions.
In addition, the company will install a mine camp to house 100 workers at the Madsen mine site.
West Red Lake recently raised $33 million from a bought deal public offering. Of that total, $10 million were flow-through funds raised under the Canadian Development Expenses category, an amount that is in line with the company’s cost forecasts for the project. The company said it is pleased to be able to use flow-through funds of this type to fund development of the haulage way.
West Red Lake shares were unchanged at 62 cents on Wednesday. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $1.04 and 42 cents.