Madsen Mine Site Update: Connection Drift 50% Complete, Primary Crusher Commissioned, Camp Installation Underway
December 4, 2024
Vancouver, British Columbia
Madsen Mine Site Update: Connection Drift 50% Complete, Primary Crusher Commissioned,
Camp Installation Underway
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (“West Red Lake Gold” or the “Company”) (TSXV: WRLG) (OTCQB:
WRLGF) is pleased to provide an operations update on restart readiness activities at its 100%
owned Madsen Mine project in the Red Lake Gold District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada.
“As we push towards our goal of restarting the Madsen Mine next year, the team continues to
make great progress on achieving key operational readiness milestones ,” said Shane Williams,
President and CEO. “Access development for test mining has been underway since late summer,
putting us on the edge of mining. The bulk samples generated through the test mining program
will be stockpiled on surface and then batch processed. Meanwhile the Connection Drift, primary
crusher, and camp projects are being completed on schedule while definition drilling and mine
planning and optimization continue.
“The entire WRLG team has been collectively working towards a successful restart of the Madsen
mine. We are now approaching the finish line on many of the fundamental pieces that support
this goal, including final optimization on the pre-feasibility study, completing key capital projects,
mining our first underground stopes, and starting up the mill. It is a very exciting time for WRLG
as we make the transition from developer to producer.”
Connection Drift 50% Complete
The Connection Drift, the largest of the capital projects supporting restart of the Madsen Mine,
is 50% complete and is on track for completion by the end of March 2025.
The Connection Drift is a 1.2-km haulage way connecting the historic West Portal, which through
extensive underground workings provides access to most parts of the Madsen mine including the
Austin, South Austin, and McVeigh zones, and the East Portal, a modern portal from which
development only extends a modest distance into the North Austin area.
The prior operator developed the East Portal and workings early in its construction effort but soon
shifted to the less capital-intensive approach of using the historic West Portal.
West Red Lake Gold found notable inefficiencies in using the West Portal for moving mined
material, including:
• The portal is relatively small, limiting hauling to 30-tonne trucks.
• The haulage ways descending from the West Portal were developed over many years of
historic operations; an array of steep sections and sharp corners make the route relatively
inefficient for trucking.
• The route from the portal to the mill crosses two public roads and goes past the town of
Madsen. Material must be dumped out of underground haul truck and reloaded into
surface-insured trucks and only hauled during daylight hours (because of noise restrictions)
to use this route.
• Much of the resource at Madsen sits spatially under the mill. Moving it west to bring it up
through the West Portal and then driving it back east to the mill adds kilometres of
trucking distance.
The East Portal, by contrast, is a large portal with modern workings. It can accommodate 60-tonne
trucks, the haulage route within the mine was designed with efficiency in mind, and the East
Portal is beside the primary crusher, which is close to the mill.
The Connection Drift will allow West Red Lake Gold to move all mined material out through the
East Portal, eliminating the inefficiencies of the West Portal (which will remain open for
ventilation and emergency access).
West Red Lake Gold raised $10 million in Canadian Development Expense flow through funds to
finance this major project. Work started in August 2024.
“The Connection Drift is a key project as we prepare to mine , for several reasons,” said Maurice
Mostert, Vice President Technical Services. “It is creating an efficient way to move material, the
effort to develop it is giving our mining teams valuable experience working accurately and
effectively underground at Madsen, and it is unlocking the potential to drill test some prospective
targets.
“Investing in capital projects to create an efficient operation before we restart this mine is one of
the key pillars of our Madsen thesis, which is that an efficient mine tapping a well -drilled and
understood resource in appropriate ways will be very much worth the effort.”
The Connection Drift is on track for its targeted completion date in late March. To date 6 04.8
metres have been completed, of the 1.2 km total length.
Figure 1. A view of the Connection Drift, which is progressing west to east. This 1.2-km haulage
way is now 50% complete.
Primary Crusher Commissioned
The primary crusher was delivered to the Madsen Mine site on November 5 , 2024 . It was
unloaded, assembled, and has now been commissioned.
“A fully functioning and reliable primary crusher is a good example of the kind of capital
investments we are making to support efficient operations when we restart the Madsen Mine,”
said Williams. “It is exciting to see the crusher processing material as we commission this key
piece of infrastructure.”
Figure 2. The CRJ3042 Electric Primary Jaw Crushing Plant being commissioned at the Madsen
Mine site in late November.
Camp Installation
The camp was delivered on November 11, 2024 and is now being installed at the Madsen Mine
site.
The camp is a 114-person facility. It offers individual rooms with ensuite bathrooms for each
worker, a kitchen and dining hall, and recreation space.
Horizon North, an industry leader in providing accommodations and services to meet workforce
requirements within the mining industry in Canada, supplied and will staff the camp facility.
Figure 3. The 114-person workforce accommodations facility for the Madsen Mine project
during the unloading and installation process.
QUALIFIED PERSON
The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by
Maurice Mostert, P .Eng., Vice President of Technical Services for West Red Lake Gold and the
Qualified Person for 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 mineral exploration company that is publicly traded and
focused on advancing and developing its flagship Madsen Gold Mine and the associated 47
km2 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
km2 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
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Gwen Preston
Vice President Communications
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.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT AND FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
The decision to continue with the advancement of the Madsen Mine restart and the Company’s
operations and plans with respect thereto, as described herein (the “Madsen Mine Restart”), are
based on economic models prepared by the Company in conjunction with management’s
knowledge of the property and the existing estimate of indicated and inferred mineral resources
on the property set out in the report entitled, “Independent NI 43 -101 Technical Report and
Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the PureGold Mine , Canada”, with an effective date of
July 31, 2022, as amended on April 24, 2024, a copy of which is available on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca. The Madsen Mine Restart is not based on a preliminary economic assessment,
a pre -feasibility study or a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and
technical viability. Accordingly, there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks of
failure associated with the Madsen Mine Restart, in particular: the risk that mineral grades will
be lower than expected; the risk that additional ongoing mining operations are more difficult or
more expensive than expected; and the risk that production and economic variables may vary
considerably, due to the absence of a detailed economic and technical analysis undertaken in
accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
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 suggesting 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
plans for the potential restart of minin g operations at the Madsen Mine, the potential of the
Madsen Mine; any untapped growth potential in the Madsen deposit or Rowan deposit; 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 materially
from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place
undue reliance on forward -looking information. Reade rs are cautioned that reliance on such
information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Additional 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.
The forward -looking information contained herein is expressly qualified in its entirety by this
cautionary statement. Forward-looking information reflects management’s current beliefs and is
based on information currently available to the Company. The forw ard-looking information is
made as of the date of this news release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or
revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by
applicable law.
For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company’s continuous
disclosure filings that are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.