West Red Lake Gold drills 16.16 g/t gold over 1.5 metres and 10.94 g/t gold over 1.5 metres at Starratt-Olsen Mine, Ontario
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. [TSXV: WRLG; OTCQX: WRLGF] reported assay results from the first 5 holes from the 12-hole surface drilling program at the historic past-producing Starratt-Olsen Mine located approximately 1.1 km southwest of its 100%-owned Madsen Mine in the Red Lake Mining District of Northwestern Ontario.
Starratt drilling highlights: Hole WRL26-054 intersected 1.5 metres at 16.16 g/t gold from 121.15 metres to 122.65 metres; including 0.85 metres at 24.60 g/t gold, from 121.15m to 122.00m.
Hole WRL26-055 intersected 4.5 metres at 5.16 g/t Au, from 114.0m to 118.5m; including 1.5m at 10.94 g/t Au from 116.5m to 118.0m.
Will Robinson, Vice President of Exploration, commented, “The results received from this first pass of modern drilling at the past-producing Starratt-Olsen Mine are highly encouraging. We have successfully demonstrated that Madsen-style mineralization of notable grades and thickness remains proximal to the historically mined areas.
“Importantly, Starratt could form part of the broader strategy to evaluate and advance multiple known gold deposits surrounding the Madsen Mine and mill and delivering on our Hub and Spoke model. In addition, several other existing targets have seen limited modern exploration.
“As we progress, we are developing a robust pipeline of both operations and near-term deposits all feeding the mill at Madsen. With Madsen in production, Fork advancing toward inclusion in the 2027 production profile with ramp development, and Rowan in the permitting stage and being evaluated alongside Madsen in a proposed combined Pre-Feasibility Study, Starratt represents another opportunity to assess the potential of this broader mineralized system to the southwest along the Madsen structural trend.
“This initial program was designed to test the upper portions of the Starratt system from surface, and our team sees significant potential to continue exploring the main Starratt ore shoot at depth. Gold grades in excess of 10 g/t Au from numerous underground drilling and chip samples collected near the shaft bottom at Starratt suggest this system continues down plunge. This high-grade panel is further reinforced by a 2016-era drillhole that returned 2 metres at 27.3 g/t Au and 3 metres at 104.1 g/t Au with numerous occurrences of visible gold. The exploration team is already looking into ways we could potentially access this area from the Madsen 16 Level exploration drive, which was advanced towards Starratt at 800m depth during the late 1930’s and gets within 200m of the main down plunge extension.”
The intervals in are denoting overall downhole length of the intercept. The gold assay results presented are uncapped values. True thickness has not been calculated for these intercepts but is expected to be ≥ 70% of downhole thickness based on intercept angles observed in the drill core. Internal dilution for composite intervals does not exceed 1m for samples grading <0.1 g/t Au.
The drill program at Starratt consisted of 4,100 metres of oriented HQ diameter diamond drilling in 12 holes. Targeted areas focused on up- and down-plunge extensions to previously mined panels at Starratt – investigating for unmined portions of previously defined mineralization and testing for new sub-parallel lenses.
This program marked the first focused effort in drill testing the main areas of historic mining at Starratt since mining ceased in the 1950’s.
Starratt is the second largest gold producer historically on the Madsen property with ~164,000 oz of gold produced between 1948-1956 at an average grade of 6.17 g/t gold.
While the 2026 surface drilling program at Starratt focused on the shallower portions of the deposit, the WRLG team sees excellent potential at depth on the main ore shoot which plunges moderately to the northeast at a similar orientation as the Austin and South Austin zones at Madsen.
Assay results from historic underground drilling and channel sampling from the historic levels suggest that the main ore shoot that was previously mined remains intact and open for expansion past 440 metres depth. The historic assays help to inform a panel of mineralization with >10 g/t Au potential that is approximately 300m by 400m.
This interpretation has been further validated in a 2016-era drillhole (PG16-198) where assays returned 2 metres at 27.3 g/t Au (561m to 563m) and 3 metres at 104.1 g/t Au (567m to 570m) within this down-plunge extension area. This impressive intercept displays classic Madsen-style mineralization often associated with high gold grades consisting of strong silicification, biotite alteration, pyrrhotite + pyrite, diopside veining and multiple instances of visible gold.
Additionally, there was an exploration drive extended from Madsen towards Starratt from the 16 Level (800m depth) during the late 1930’s that gets within 200 metres of the down plunge extension of the ore shoot at Starratt.
The Madsen Mine is currently dewatered down to 18 Level and plans are already being prepared for accessing this 16 Level exploration drift for rehabilitation, geological mapping, sampling and potential future diamond drilling programs that could be planned to target the down plunge extension of the main Starratt ore shoot at depth. Drilling the Starratt deep extension from underground would provide an advantageous drilling platform requiring much shorter length holes and higher confidence drilling angles than from surface.
West Red Lake Gold Mines is a gold producer and developer advancing a high-grade, district scale opportunity in the Red Lake district of Ontario. The company’s flagship Madsen Mine has recently achieved commercial production and is positioned as the central hub of a growing multi asset platform.
The company controls a 47 km² land package in one of the world’s most prolific mining districts, which has historically produced over 20 million ounces of gold from high grade systems2. West Red Lake also owns the Rowan Property in Red Lake, covering 31 km² that includes three past producing mines (Rowan, Mount Jamie and Red Summit) and represents a key source of future production growth.