Wesdome drills expand gold zones in Quebec
Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. [WDO-TSX] has released underground exploration drilling results from the Kiena Deep A zone at the company’s 100%-owned Kiena Mine Complex in Val d’Or, Quebec.
Wesdome is working towards the start of commercial production at the Kiena Complex, which is expected to produce between 64,000 and 73,000 ounces this year. This is part of an overall plan to establish Wesdome as Canada’s next intermediate gold producer, generating over 200,000 ounces from two mines in Ontario and Quebec.
The Eagle River underground mine near Wawa, Ont., is currently producing gold at a rate of 95,000 to 105,000 ounces annually.
The move towards commercial production at Kiena comes after the company released positive results from an independent NI 43-101-compliant pre-feasibility study (PFS) which is based on a reserve mine life of approximately seven years and indicated mineral resources as of October, 2020 (average grade 11.9 g/t gold).
The PFS envisages annual gold production of approximately 84,000 ounces, with peak production of 115,000 ounces in 2025. The restart decision was announced back in May, 2021.
Since the completion of the PFS for Kiena in 2021, underground drilling has been focused on exploration proximal to the Kiena Deep A zones. As part of this exploration focus, early success discovered the Footwall zones last year, and drilling continues to expand these zones down plunge.
Most recently underground exploration drilling at the Kiena Deep A zones area has discovered a new mineralized interval (hole 6752W10, which returned 13.9 g/t gold over 83.2 metres core length) located 100 metres below the known limit of the A zone resource. The true width is unknown at this time.
However, additional drilling will be needed to link this new mineralization to the existing lenses, the company said in a press release, which came after the close of trading on June 1, 2022.
Other highlights include hole 6796W6, which returned 92.1 g/t gold over 50.7 metres core length in the A1 zone.
“We are continuing to spend aggressively on exploration at Kiena with $17.7 million to be spent in 2022 that includes approximately 50,000 metres of underground drilling and 30,000 metres of surface drilling,” said Wesdome President and CEO Duncan Middlemiss.
“It is evident that as we continue to explore and collect new information, we are able to discover traps for gold mineralization outside of the known zones, thereby demonstrating the prospectivity of this area and the entire property,” he said.
Middlemiss also said he is pleased with the recent underground drilling which continues to expand the high-grade A zones and Footwall zones.
On June 1, 2022, Wesdome shares rose 4.4% or 53 cents to $12.58. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $16.77 and $9.76.