Westhaven closes in on updated PEA at Shovelnose, B.C.

Westhaven Gold Inc. [WHN-TSXV] is posed to release an updated mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment (PEA) at its 100%-owned Shovelnose Gold property, which is located within the Spences Bridge Gold Belt, which borders the Coquihalla Highway, 30 kilometres south of Merritt, B.C.

The (PEA) for the South zone deposit is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025 and will include the Forget Me Not, and Franz zones, additional discoveries located within the Main zone 1 trend. It will be an update on a PEA announced in In July 2023.

Meanwhile, the company has launched a winter drilling program for the 41,634-hectare property. The winter drill program will test three target areas: Certes 1, Certes 2, and Corral, with approximately 2,500 metres of drilling in five holes. Certes 1 and 3 are located approximately eight to 10 kilometres southeast of the high-grade South zone.  A corridor of mineralization and anomalous pathfinder geochemistry was expanded southwest by surface sampling and drilling in 2024.

Preliminary shallow drilling in 2024 at Certes has uncovered a well-preserved epithermal vein system, now confirmed in pathfinder geochemistry and TerraSpec (SWIR) analytical work. Certes 3 will be the initial focus of the program., testing down-dip the arsenic and gold-bearing carbonate breccias and quartz veins intersected in hole SN24-425. Drilling at Certes 1 will test a subvertical resistivity feature, outlined by the fall 2024 IP survey, immediately north of hole SN24-420. A single hole is planned for the Corral target, south of Certes.

The 2023 PEA focused on the South Zone, which was discovered in late 2018 and with an initial mineral resource estimate first reported in 2022. In addition to high grades, the company said the South Zone benefits from wide, steeply dipping mineralized vein domains which contribute to a robust, low-cost, high margin mining opportunity. When the company released the PEA, it said management expects to be able to significantly increase the property’s mineral resource base as it drills off the newer discoveries and tests additional outside targets.

The PEA envisaged low capital-intensive development and operating costs, including  total life-of-mine capital costs of $247 million. It also predicted a 9.5-year mine life and the ability to expand processing to accommodate satellite discoveries. Other highlights includedpayable metals recovery of 543,000 ounces of gold, and 2.7 million ounces of silver. Average annual production was forecast at 56,000 ounces of gold, peaking in year seven at 68,000 ounces. The all-in-sustaining cost (AISC) was estimated at US$752 per ounce gold equivalent (AuEq)

A mineral resource estimate for the South Zone dated January 1, 2022, pegs the indicated resource at 2.9 million tonnes of grade 6.38 g/t gold, or 612,000 ounces of contained gold, and 34.1 g/t silver or 3.27 million ounces of contained silver, or 654,000 ounces of contained gold equivalent (AuEq).

On Tuesday, Westhaven shares were unchanged at 12.5 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 27 cents and $0.085.