West Red Lake Gold Announces Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Rowan Project, Including Over 35,000 oz. Average Annual Production and 42% After-Tax IRR
July 8, 2025
Vancouver, British Columbia
West Red Lake Gold Announces Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Rowan Project,
Including Over 35,000 oz. Average Annual Production and 42% After-Tax IRR
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (“West Red Lake Gold” or the “Company”) (TSXV: WRLG) (OTCQB:
WRLGF) is pleased to announce the positive results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”)
prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects
(“NI 43-101”) for a toll milling mine operation at its 100%-owned Rowan project in the Red Lake Gold
District of northwestern Ontario, Canada (“the Rowan Project”).
All dollar amounts in this news release are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.
The effective date of the PEA is June 30th, 2025, and a technical report relating to the PEA (the “Technical
Report”) will be filed on SEDAR+ within 45 days of this news release.
Rowan PEA Highlights:
• High-Grade Efficient Mine: Underground mine via long hole retreat method, delivering an
average diluted head grade of 8.0 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold (“Au”), accentuated by 10.4 g/t
Au average grade in Year 1.
• Notable Production: 35,230 oz. average annual Au production over the 5-year mine life from an
average mining rate of 385 tonnes per day (“tpd”).
• Strong Value: $125.3M post-tax Net Present Value (“NPV”) at US$2,500 per oz Au. Post-tax NPV
rises to $239M at US$3,250 per oz Au.
• Low Costs and Strong Returns: US$1,408/oz all-in sustaining cost (“AISC”) and 41.9% post-tax
internal rate of return (“IRR”), underscoring the viability of the Company’s second potential mine
in the region. IRR increases to 81.7% at a US$3,250/oz gold price.
• Modest Initial Capital: Multiple mills in the area with excess capacity create the opportunity to
develop Rowan as a toll milling operation with initial capital of just over $70 million.
• High Confidence Inventory: PEA mine design includes 63% of mined tonnes and 72% of mined
ounces from the Indicated category – provides solid base for transition into prefeasibility study
(“PFS”) level assessment.
• Simple Metallurgy: Free gold-dominant mineralization resulting in 75.8% to 94.9% gold recovery
through gravity processing during metallurgical test work , which also supports toll milling
potential.
2
• Development and Permitting Timeline : The Company plans to complete a Pre Feasibility Study
(“PFS”) on the Rowan Project by Q3 2026, to continue advancing this valuable opportunity. The
final year of 3 -year baseline environmental data collection period is underway and the
Company has been engaging with the regulators to support an expedited permitting
process. New Bill 5 legislation in Ontario is intended to speed up the mine approval
process. The WRLG team will work with the regulators and its Indigenous partners to permit
and construct the Rowan Mine.
• Significant Exploration and Growth Potential: There are multiple opportunities to define
additional mineralization at Rowan by (1) expansion drilling on the two main veins of the deposit
included in this PEA mine plan (v001 and v004) especially at depth, (2) infill and expansion drilling
on parallel veins adjacent to the PEA mine plan with data gaps stemming from selective historic
drill sampling, (3) drill testing expansion targets along strike from the Rowan vein system, and (4)
testing high potential new targets at the property including Apex and Big Bend.
“Rowan is a high grade, relatively wide, nearly vertical deposit that starts at surface and this PEA captures
how such designed-for-mining characteristics lead to strong economics,” said Shane Williams, President
and CEO. “There is ample opportunity to grow the resource further at Rowan along strike, at depth, and
via discovery at new nearby targets, but we ideally want to do that work while turning this asset into a
mine sending high-grade mineralization to an operating mill in the area and potentially generating
significant revenue for the Company.
“A NPV of $239 million at close-to-spot gold pricing provides a compelling case to advance Rowan swiftly
from here. We plan to advance engineering work while completing a drill program to infill gaps that
prevented parts of the resource from being considered in the mine plan and upgrade roughly 37% of the
mine plan tonnes that currently sits within the inferred resource category. That work will inform and
maximize the value outlined in a PFS that we target issuing within 12 months that would be completed
in tandem with permitting efforts at Rowan . It is also positive that the recent enactment of Bill 5 in
Ontario creates potential for a simplified, collaborative, and expedited permitting process.”
The PEA was prepared by independent consultants Fuse Advisors, with input from Sims Resource LLC
(resource estimate and modeling), Knight Piesold (tailings and waste rock), Integrated Sustainability Inc
(water treatment), and PHC Inc (underground geotechnical).
Economic Results and Sensitivities
Table 1 summarizes the projected production and economic results of the PEA. Figure 1 shows post-tax
discounted cash flows, cash costs, and AISC by year.
3
Table 1: Rowan Mine PEA – Key Economic Assumptions and Results
Mine Life yrs 5
Total Ore Mined kilotonnes 705
Steady State Mining Rate tpd 385
Average Head Grade Au g/t 8.0
Gold Recovery % 97%
Average Annual Gold oz / year 35,230
Total Payable Gold oz. 176,155
Life of Mine Cash Cost US$/oz US$963
Long Term Gold Price US$/oz $2,500
Exchange Rate CDN$ : US$ 1.35
Total Revenue C$M $593.9
Initial Capital C$M $70.4
Sustaining Capital C$M $102.6
Average AISC US$/oz US$1,408
Cumulative Net Cash Flow (pre-tax) C$M $189.1
Cumulative Net Cash Flow (post-tax) C$M $155.1
NPV (post-tax) C$M $125.3
IRR (post-tax) % 41.9%
Discounted Payback Period yrs 2.4
4
Figure 1: Rowan Mine Post-Tax Discounted Cash Flows, Cash Costs, and All-In Sustaining Costs by Year
Upside Potential
There are multiple opportunities to potentially expand and upgrade the resource and mine plan at
Rowan.
The Rowan resource comprises 26 domains that capture multiple parallel veins. Three of those veins –
v001, v003 and v004 – are mined in the PEA. A fourth vein with strong gold grades, called v006b, is the
third largest contributor of tonnes and ounces in the current mineral resource estimate (“MRE”) but was
not included in the PEA mine plan because its data stems largely from historic drilling, which suffers from
unsampled intervals. Historic operators often only sampled and assayed drill core with visible quartz
veining. Surrounding rock, including v ein margins, narrow gaps between veins, and adjacent wall rock,
was not sampled. In the MRE estimation process those unsampled intervals were assigned a value of
half detection limit (0.0025 gpt Au).
During the 2023 drill campaign , West Red Lake Gold demonstrated that gold mineralization regularly
persists into the altered wall rock adjacent to high -grade gold veins. Selective sampling would have
missed mineralization of this type.
Lack of assay coverage outside of narrow sampled vein intervals resulted in a heavily diluted v006b
resource with insufficient continuity for mining. The Company believes there is good potential to
upgrade and expand v006b with approximately 2,000 metres of new drilling to re-drill some historic
holes while also testing some strong targets for expansion and is keen to complete this work and
potentially bring v006b into mine plan consideration. The position of v006b is also fortuitous as this area
is closer to the mine portal and access decline and could potentially bring earlier tonnes and ounces into
the mine plan within the first 6 months of development.
--
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$50
$60
$70
1 2 3 4 5
USD$ / Au (oz)
Post-Tax Discounted Cash Flow ($M)
Year
Post-Tax Discounted Cash Flow, Cash Costs, and AISC
Post-Tax Discounted Cash Flow Cash Cost All-in Sustaining Cost
5
The planned drill program also includes holes to upgrade the 37% of the resource tonnes in the PEA mine
plan that are currently categorized as inferred. It is notable that 63% of the resource tonnes and 72% of
the ounces mined in the PEA plan are already at indicated confidence . Together, the drill program to
upgrade portions v001 and v004 from inferred to indicated and upgrade v006b continuity totals 3,500
metres.
The next layer of opportunity at Rowan is based on expanding the deposit. Notably, the highest-grade
intercept ever drilled at Rowan was achieved during the 2023 drill campaign when hole RLG-23-163B
returned 70 .8 g/t gold over 8 .3 metres. This intercept came from the deep er portion of v001 and
indicates potential for mineralization to continue, and perhaps strengthen, at depth. The Rowan vein
system has only been defined down to approximately 400 metres and remains wide open for expansion
at depth (Figure 2). The Rowan deposit also remains open along strike to the east and west.
Figure 2. Long section of Rowan block model at 1 gpt Au cutoff showing PEA mine design (blue) and
outline of areas planned for long hole stoping (red outline). Notable assay intercepts have been
highlighted to indicate the strength of gold mineralization and expansion potential at depth.
6
Additionally, West Red Lake Gold defined two new till anomalies at Rowan in 2024 that align spatially
with deflections and folding in the main regional shear that hosts gold mineralization. These targets have
seen very little previous drilling (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Till targets along trend from the Rowan deposit that were defined in 2024 and have seen very
little drill testing.
Mining and Infrastructure
Rowan is planned as an underground operation mined by longhole stoping methods , tapping a deposit
that is near vertical and averages 2 metres width.
The site requires 1.4 kilometres of capital development ( including remucks, sumps, and level access
points) before first ore is accessed . The mine plan starts in a high-grade portion of the deposit close to
surface, resulting in a 10.4 g/t gold average head grade in Year 1. Head grade ranges from 6.7 to 7.4 g/t
gold in Years 2, 3, and 4 as mining progresses through different parts of the three veins – v001, v003 and
v004 – that make up the mine plan.
In Year 5 the mine reaches the deepest part of the mine plan and the grade rises to 9.9 g/t gold. Annual
gold production ranges from 26,090 oz. to 41,410 oz. based primarily on the variance in head grade.
7
Figure 4: Rowan Mine Gold Production and Gold Grade by Year
Material is moved out of the mine by truck.
A sampling tower will be used to measure the head grade before mined material is trucked off site for
processing at a local mill
Initial, Operating and Sustaining Capital
Initial capital needs are relatively evenly spread across three requirements: underground development
to access mining areas , surface infrastructure, and equipment procurement. Capital spend estimates
include a 30% contingency.
Surface infrastructure needs include a crusher, a sampling tower, polishing pond and water treatment
plant, a waste rock facility, a mine dry facility, a small camp, a maintenance shop, and electrical
infrastructure.
Operating costs were informed using the operating costs at mines in the area and include a 10%
contingency.
A toll milling cost of $67.44 per tonne was assumed, based on first principle estimates as applied to toll
milling agreements and knowledge of processing costs at mills in the vicinity.
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
1 2 3 4 5
Gold Grade (g/t)
Production (koz)
Year
Gold Production and Grade By Year
Gold Payable Head Grade
8
Table 2: Capital and Operating Costs
Initial Capex ($M) $70.4
Sustaining Capex ($M) $102.6
Reclamation Capex ($M) $3.2
Total Capex ($M) $176.2
LOM Cash Cost (US$/oz) $963
LOM All-in Sustaining Cost (US$/oz) $1,408
Financial Analysis
The Rowan mine ’s flagship characteristics are low capital costs and high gold grades. These attributes
generate a toll milling mine plan with a 41.9% after-tax IRR and $42 million in expected average annual
free cash flow.
Table 3: Key Operating, Cost, and Revenue Metrics at US$2,500 per oz. gold
Total Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Mill throughput (t) 705,185 109,885 125,348 169,964 166,417 133,571
Average Grade (g/t) 8.01 10.41 6.67 7.38 6.52 9.94
Production (ozs) 176,155 35,683 26,088 39,125 33,850 41,408
Total Revenue ($M) $593.9 $120.3 $88.0 $131.9 $114.1 $139.6
Operating Costs ($M) $213.6 $38.0 $40.3 $45.2 $49.9 $40.2
Sustaining Capital ($M) $102.6 $33.9 $34.0 $34.3 $0.3 $0.0
Pre Tax Cash Flow ($M) $189.1 $45.3 $11.4 $49.1 $61.0 $95.9
Post-Tax Discounted
Cash Flow ($M) $125.3 $44.2 $10.6 $35.9 $41.8 $65.6
Average Annual Free Cash Flow ($M) $39.6
The financial outcomes of the Rowan mine plan are highly sensitive to the price of gold. A 15% increase
in the gold price to US$2,875 per oz. lifts the post-tax NPV and IRR to $176 million and 50.5%, respectively.
A 30% increase in the gold price to US$3,250 per oz. (close to current spot pricing) leads to a $232 million
NPV and a 66.6% IRR.