West Red Lake Gold Reports Third Quarter Operations Update for Madsen Mine Ramp-Up
October 7, 2025
Vancouver, BC
West Red Lake Gold Reports Third Quarter Operations
Update for Madsen Mine Ramp-Up
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (“West Red Lake Gold” or “WRLG” or the “Company”)
(TSXV: WRLG) (OTCQB: WRLGF) is pleased to provide a third quarter (“Q3”) update on the
ramp-up of the Madsen Mine located in the Red Lake Gold District of Northwestern Ontario,
Canada.
“Ramp up at the Madsen mine is progressing well, ” said Shane Williams, President and
CEO. “It is exciting to see tonnages rise, efficiencies increase, and gold production grow
quarter by quarter, as planned. ”
“It takes a methodical approach to step a mine towards steady state operations, ramping
up daily mining while completing final infrastructure projects and underground
development needs, and at Madsen we are now seeing the benefits of such an approach.
Operational performance at the mine in Q3 continued within the expected range.
Importantly, key parameters remained consistent, including ongoing strong reconciliation
between planned and actual gold grades in modeled tonnes, and certain capital projects
are starting to have notable positive impacts. I am excited to see the final pieces of this
operation come into place over the fourth quarter, positioning Madsen for commercial
production in early 2026.”
In Q3 the Madsen Mine produced 35,700 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 5.4 grams per
tonne gold. The mill poured 7,055 ounces of gold. Note that mined and poured ounces do
not align because of factors including month end timings and gold in circuit. Those ounces
were sold at an average price of US$3,456 per ounce for gross proceeds of CAD$33 million.
This compares to 5,260 ounces of gold poured in Q2 for gross proceeds of CAD$24 million
and 496 ounces of gold in Q1 for gross proceeds of CAD$2.1 million. Q3 gold production
represented a 34% increase over Q2 gold production, a rate that positions Madsen to reach
targeted output levels early in 2026.
Mined ore tonnage is increasing month over month, within the variability of mine ramp up.
Increasing daily mined tonnage is the primary ramp-up factor at Madsen, so the Company
is pleased to report ore tonnage rising consistently.
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Figure 1. Ore tonnes mined at Madsen on a monthly basis from December 2024
through September 2025.
Mined waste development is also progressing as planned, as crews drive access to new
areas for drilling and mining. Importantly, as of mid-September mined waste is now being
stored largely underground.
The underground waste rock storage program is a key de-bottlenecking effort recently in
effect and is directly supporting the mine’s ability to move ore tonnes. In the second half of
September the mine moved over 1,000 tonnes of ore per day on several days, including a
record day moving 1,400 tonnes. This new ability to store all waste rock underground,
which has shifted trucking capacity away from waste haulage to ore haulage, bodes well
for production.
In terms of processed tonnes, variability was part of the ramp-up plan. To test the mill’s
ability to run at higher throughputs, in June and July the mill was fed a combination of
mined and stockpiled tonnes. Since the start of August, the mill has only processed direct
mined tonnes. Madsen’s gold output is now a clear representation of what the mine is
producing as the operation progresses towards operational stability.
Focus during Q3 was on balancing the competing priorities of ramp-up projects and regular
mining operations. For instance, the need to develop a secondary egress from a key mining
complex impacted ore production in August while work on underground power distribution
impacted mining optionality in September. The Company also managed labour force
availability impacts stemming from the June mine site incident.
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Reconciliation between modeled and actual mined grades remains strong. Figure 2 below
shows a comparison of modeled versus actual longhole stope grades. Note that sill
development contributed 25 to 30% of milled tonnage over the quarter; Figure 2 does not
consider sill tonnes and grade. See Figure 3 for sill grade data.
Figure 2: Comparison of modeled versus actual gold grade in mined longhole stopes.
Note this chart does not include sill tonnes and grade.
Sill development tonnes continue to outperform on grade. In Q3, mined sill tonnes
averaged 8.8 g/t gold.
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1
2
3
4
5
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July August September
Gold Grade (g/t Au)
Mined Stope Grade Reconciliation
Stope Model Grade (weighted average)
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Figure 3. Sill development gold grade and ounce production at the Madsen Mine.
Equipment availability has improved over the quarter as maintenance systems ramped up.
The maintenance team is keeping availabilities for haul trucks, scoops, jumbo drills, and
other equipment at target levels.
Pathway to Commercial Production
During the quarter West Red Lake Gold defined the operational components the Company
aims to implement before declaring commercial production. With the mine seeing good
progress on staffing, the geology-engineering workflow producing good reconciliation and
grounding an achievable detailed mine plan, the mill returning strong and consistent
recoveries, and other components from maintenance to water treatment also ramping up
as expected, focus with respect to commercial production went to operational
components, including:
• Storage of waste rock in historic underground voids. The Madsen Mine produced
approximately 2 million ounces of gold from 1936 to 1972. Many mined-out stopes
were backfilled, but several large historic stopes were left void. As West Red Lake
Gold advances deeper into the mine, such stopes are verified and measured. It was
determined that the 1136 void, which is proximal to the 1155 mining complex that is
providing 40% of mine’s produced ounces in H2 2025, is significantly larger than
expected (65,000 tonnes versus an initial expectation of 34,000 tonnes). It is also a
competent void. As a result, this area is now being utilised to store waste rock
utilising a combination of cemented rock fill (“CRF”) and dumped waste rock, at
rates up to 2,000 tonnes per day.
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Since getting this waste storage process operational in mid-September, ore
production from the mine has increased because of increased truck availability and
ventilation capacity.
• Skipping 350 tonnes per day up the shaft. The Madsen Shaft was developed in the
1950s; the Company rehabilitated the square timbered shaft in H2 2024. In 2025
management decided to use the shaft to move material. West Red Lake Gold
ordered the needed hoist components; the rope was delivered in August while the
skip and scrolls are expected in October.
Once these components are installed, the Company expects to start moving 350
tonnes of ore out of the mine each day through the shaft. This is expected to provide
notable benefit over trucking these tonnes in terms of cost savings and ventilation
capacity.
• Final equipment deliveries. The mine expects to take delivery of another 42-tonne
haul truck and two 4-yard Komatsu scoops over the next two months, which will
complete the planned fleet of mining equipment.
The first of these requirements – underground waste storage – is now operational. The shaft
is expected to start operating in November and the equipment should be delivered and
operational at approximately the same time.
These achievements will create operational stability at the Madsen mine. The 2026 detailed
mine plan is also expected before the end of the year, which will enable confident guidance
as part of a declaration of commercial production.
“The Madsen Mine remains on track towards commercial production, ” states Williams.
“We are staying focused on a methodical approach to this ramp up because developing a
strong sustainable mine gives us the potential to create more value in Red Lake. Such
potential is very apparent in our Rowan project, which we are advancing quickly so that its
anticipated production rate of 35,000 ounces adds to our Red Lake production profile
within a few years, and we see significant additional value potential at Madsen as we test
high-grade targets in and around the deposit and unlock the deeper opportunity of this gold
system. ”
Additional Information on Recent Financing
In connection with the Company’s bought deal public offering previously disclosed on
September 23, 2025, the Company raised an aggregate of C$40,651,260 and the Company
paid Raymond James Ltd., as lead underwriter, a cash commission of $2,270,469.60.
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, and by Hayley Halsall-Whitney,
P .Eng., Vice President of Operations for West Red Lake Gold and the Qualified Person for
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technical services at the West Red Lake Project, as defined by National Instrument 43-101 -
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
ABOUT WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. is a gold mining company that is publicly traded and focused
on its flagship high-grade 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 depo sits. WRLG also owns the Rowan
Property in Red Lake, which hosts a small, high -grade deposit that West Red Lake Gold is
looking to advance towards production.
ON BEHALF OF WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES LTD.
“Shane Williams”
Shane Williams
President & Chief Executive Officer
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Gwen Preston
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Vice President Communications
Tel: (604) 609-6132
Email: [email protected] or visit the Company’s website
at https://www.westredlakegold.com
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defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy
or accuracy of this release.
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