West Red Lake Gold Pours Gold Bar From Madsen Mill Cleanup
June 13, 2024
Vancouver, BC
West Red Lake Gold Pours Gold Bar From
Madsen Mill Cleanup
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (“West Red Lake Gold” or “WRLG” or the “Company”) (TSXV:
WRLG) (OTCQB: WRLGF is pleased to report that a gold bar was poured using the refinery in the
Madsen mill on June 8, 2024. The gold was recovered during the Madsen mill cleanup and gold
recovery program (the “Gold Recovery Program”) at its 100% owned Madse n Mine located in
the Red Lake Gold District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada.
“It is very exciting to be pouring gold again at the Madsen Mill,” said Shane Williams, President
and CEO. “Recovering trapped gold is another validation of the opportunity that’s available for
us to unlock at the Madsen Mine. With gold worth approximately US$2,300 per ounce,
recovering these ounces from the mill will help bolster our treasury. And the excitement of
pouring gold again at the mine is further energizing our team as we push to get Madsen back into
production in the second half of 2025.”
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FIGURE 1. West Red Lake Gold P resident and CEO Shane Williams holding the first gold bar
poured at the Madsen mill since the Company took ownership of the Madsen Mine in June
2023.
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As detailed in a news release on May 2 nd, 2024 (Madsen Mill Cleanup Unlocks Significant Value
For West Red Lake Gold Mine ), West Red Lake Gold undertook a mill cleanup program because
of visual evidence that installation and operational missteps by the prior operator in certain parts
of the mill had created “traps”, resulting in gold being caught up in these physical traps inste ad
of making it through the mill.
A preliminary mill cleanup in late 2023 recovered 415 troy ounces of gold with proceeds of
approximately US$750,000 from material trapped in the mill’s circuits. This prompted a second
phase focused on the ball mills and semi -autogenous grinding (“ SAG”) mills. Gold was found
physically trapped in ill-fitting liners in the ball mill, in the SAG mills, and in uncleaned f ilters. All
of these would have impacted the previous operator’s reconciliation numbers , and all can be
minimized or eliminated through installation of proper equipment and mill operations expertise.
Longshot Diamond Drilling specializes in mill cleanups and conducted the cleanup at the Madsen
mill. Owner Russell Manderstrom has cleaned over 30 shut -down mills around the world since
1978. Longshot brought a small portable gravity circuit to the Madsen site and used it to separate
coarse gold from the milled material collected during the cleanup.
West Red Lake Gold used the gold refinery at the Madsen mill to pour the recovered coarse gold
into a gold bar on site. The Company was pleased to see the refinery operating smoothly after 18
months of inactivity.
“Seeing the refinery in action was another check mark on our list of Operational Readiness
requirements,” said Shane Williams. “ Starting or restarting a mine requires reliable operations
from multiple facilities and systems. W ith over 100 employees at sit e, constant underground
development and drilling, and multiple capital projects underway or in planning, we are
establishing the systems that support smooth mine operations. From my experience building and
commissioning mines, I know what a difference it makes to a new operation to have such systems
in place prior to start up.”
The rest of the collected material, which contains the remaining gold fines, will now be sent off-
site for processing. When this off-site processing is complete, West Red Lake Gold will announce
the total amount of gold recovered through the mill cleanup program.
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FIGURE 2. Photograph of sample concentrate material with coarse visible gold collected as part
of the recovery and cleanup program at Madsen Mine.
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FIGURE 3. Photograph of gold recovered during the mill cleanup program being poured into a
gold bar in the Madsen mill refinery on June 8, 2024.
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FIGURE 4. Photograph of the gold bar from the first West Red Lake Gold pour.
QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL
The Madsen Mine deposit presently hosts a National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure
for Mineral Projects (“NI 43 -101”) Indicated resource of 1.65 million ounces (“Moz”) of gold
grading 7.4 g/t Au and an Inferred resource of 0.37 Moz of gold grading 6.3 g/t Au. Mineral
resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 3.38 g/t Au and a gold price of US1,800/oz. Mineral
resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Please
refer to the technical report entitled “Independent NI 43 -101 Technical Report and Updated
Mineral Resource Estimate for the PureGold Mine, Canada”, prepared by SRK Consulting
(Canada) Inc. and dated June 16, 2023, and amended April 24, 2024 (the “Madsen Report”). The
Madsen Resource Estimate has an effective date of December 31, 2021 and excludes depletion
of mining activity during the period from January 1, 2022 to the mine closure on October 24,
2022 as it has been deemed immaterial and not relevant for the purpose of the Madsen Report.
A full copy of the Madsen Report is available on the Company’s website and on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca.
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The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by
Will Robinson, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for West Red Lake Gold and the Qualified
Person for exploration at the West Red Lake Project, as defined by NI 43-101 “Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects”.
ABOUT WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. is a mineral exploration company that is publicly traded and
focused on advancing and developing its flagship Madsen Gold Mine and the associated 47 km 2
highly prospective land package in the Red Lake district of Ontario. The highly productive Red
Lake Gold District of Northwest Ontario, Canada has yielded over 30 million ounces of gold from
high-grade zones and hosts some of the world's richest gold deposits. WRLG also holds the wholly
owned Rowan Property in Red Lake, with an expansive property position covering 31 km 2
including three past producing gold mines - Rowan, Mount Jamie, and Red Summit.
ON BEHALF OF WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES LTD.
“Shane Williams”
Shane Williams
President & Chief Executive Officer
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Freddie Leigh
Tel: (604) 609-6132
Email: [email protected] or visit the Company’s website at
https://www.westredlakegold.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in
the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute "forward-looking information”
within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward- looking information generally can be
identified by words such as "anticipate", "expect", "estimate", "forecast", "planned", and similar
expressions sugge sting future outcomes or events. Forward -looking information is based on
current expectations of management; however, it is subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the
forward-looking information in this news release and include without limitation, statements
relating to the potential of the Madsen Mine and Rowan; any untapped growth potential in the
Madsen deposit or the Rowan deposit; the results of further cleanup and recovery at the Madsen
Mine; and the Company’s future objectives and plans. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on forward-looking information.
Forward-looking information involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might
differ materially from results suggested in any forward- looking information. These risks and
uncertainties include, among other things, market volatility; the state of the financial markets for
the Company’s securities; fluctuations in commodity prices; timing and results of the cleanup and
recovery at the Madsen Mine; and changes in the Company’s business plans. Forward- looking
information is based on a number of key expectations and assumptions, including without
limitation, that the Company will continue with its stated business objectives and its ability to
raise additional capital to proceed. Although management of the Company has attempted to
identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained
in forward -looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as
anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward- looking
information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ mate rially
from those anticipated in such forward- looking information. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such
information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Addit ional information about risks and
uncertainties is contained in the Company’s management’s discussion and analysis for the year
ended November 30, 2023, and the Company’s annual information form for the year ended
November 30, 2023, copies of which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.