Longhole Mining Resets Madsen's Reserve at 662,000 Ounces and a Lower Grade

• The integrated pre-feasibility study (PFS) assigns about 97% of Madsen's reserve tonnes to longhole stoping.
• Madsen's Probable reserve is 662,000 ounces (oz) at 6.06 grams per tonne (g/t), against 478,000 oz at 8.16 g/t in the 2025 PFS.
• All-in sustaining cost (AISC) for the combined Madsen and Rowan plan is US$2,457 per ounce at a long-term gold price of US$3,568 per ounce, against around US$1,600 per ounce in the 2025 PFS.
• Reserve cut-off grades now use costs from the 2026 Madsen budget, rather than a mining cost benchmarked against an operating mine in Ontario.
• The mill reaches 1,350 tonnes per day (tpd) on a coarser grind, with a recovery loss of about 3% on Madsen ore in testwork.  

West Red Lake Gold Mines (TSXV: WRLG | OTCQX: WRLGF) has rebuilt the plan for its Madsen Mine in Ontario's Red Lake Gold District around the operating mine's mining method and costs. The integrated pre-feasibility study (PFS), released on November 4, 2026 and effective September 1, 2026, combines Madsen with the Rowan deposit and takes in operating performance at Madsen. Madsen's Probable reserve now stands at 662,000 ounces (oz) at 6.06 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, against 478,000 oz at 8.16 g/t in the 2025 PFS. All-in sustaining cost (AISC) for the combined Madsen and Rowan plan is US$2,457 per ounce at a long-term gold price of US$3,568 per ounce, against around US$1,600 per ounce in the 2025 PFS. 

From Cut-and-Fill to Longhole Stoping 

The new plan moves Madsen's reserve onto the mining method crews have mainly used underground. About 97% of Madsen reserve tonnes are assigned to longitudinal retreat longhole stoping, in which ore is drilled and blasted in long blocks between 2 levels. Stopes run 10 meters (m) along-strike on nominal 17 m sublevels, with a minimum mining width of 1.7 m. The design applies a wall dilution of 0.3-0.6 m, increasing with depth, plus 10% unplanned dilution, and assumes 94% mining recovery. The 2025 PFS planned most of Madsen's mining by cut-and-fill, a more selective method.  

President and Chief Executive Officer of West Red Lake Gold Mines, Shane Williams, ties the lower reserve grade to the method in use at the mine: 

"We've mainly been doing long hole open stope mining, which obviously is less selective than we used in the pre-feasibility. So we get an average grade of around 6 g in the reserve."

Cut-off grades moved with the new design. Longhole stopes now carry a 3.9 g/t breakeven cut-off and a 2.4 g/t incremental cut-off, and cut-and-fill stopes 4.6 g/t, against 4.30 g/t for longhole and 5.28 g/t for cut-and-fill in the 2025 PFS. About 13% of planned tonnes are remnant ore next to historic workings from the 1930s to the 1970s, and those old stopes will be probed, drained, and backfilled before nearby stopes are mined. 

Costs Drawn From Madsen's Own Operations  

The reserve now uses Madsen's own budget for its cost inputs. Its cut-off grades use a total longhole operating cost of C$400 per tonne, based on the 2026 Madsen budget adjusted for full production. That total is C$230 for mining, C$50 fixed and C$15 variable for the mill, C$85 for general and administrative costs, and a C$20 premium. The 2025 PFS used C$287.34 per tonne for longhole stopes, with the mining cost benchmarked on an operating mine in Ontario. Operating costs in the study were based on actual costs at Madsen and included a 10% contingency.

Williams puts a figure on the cost the earlier study carried before the mine had built an operating record:

"We did last year when we did the Madsen pre-feasibility study, we had an AISC of around $1,600 an ounce. I would say that was early stage on Madsen. We've now had the benefit of 15 months of operational focus on Madsen, so we've got a much better reflection of what the actual AISC is." 

Comparing the study with one for a project still years from production, Williams points to where its costs now come from:

"So it's much more defined than a pre-feasibility that you would typically have on a project that's several years out. You're making some assumptions. These are based on real costs that we're experiencing today."  

Cash cost for the combined plan is US$1,795 per ounce at a long-term gold price of US$3,568 per ounce, and total site operating cost is C$484.0 per tonne milled. Labor and contractors account for around 50% to 60% of costs at Madsen and Rowan, by management's estimate. Madsen's reported AISC was US$4,678 per ounce in the first quarter of 2026 and US$3,284 per ounce in the second.  

A Larger Reserve at a Lower Grade  

Madsen's Probable reserve is 662,000 oz in 3.40 million tonnes at 6.06 g/t, estimated at a gold price of US$2,500 per ounce. The 2025 PFS reserve, effective January 2025, was 478,000 oz at 8.16 g/t, estimated at a gold price of US$1,680 per ounce. Austin now has 319,000 oz at 5.77 g/t, and South Austin has 226,000 oz at 6.31 g/t, compared with 184,000 oz at 7.37 g/t and 227,000 oz at 8.21 g/t in 2025. The 8 Zone has 38,000 oz at 11.50 g/t, against 51,000 oz at 13.38 g/t. 

Fork contributes 40,000 oz at 4.85 g/t and North Austin 4,000 oz, and neither zone appears in the 2025 reserve statement. Adding Rowan's 300,000 oz at 9.23 g/t brings the combined reserve to 962,000 oz at 6.79 g/t, 85% more contained ounces than the 2025 PFS reserve. The integrated plan runs for 10 years, against a mine life of around 8.5 years in the 2025 PFS.  

Source: West Red Lake Gold Mines, Corporate Presentation, September 2026; West Red Lake Gold Mines, Integrated PFS News Release, November 4, 2026; West Red Lake Gold Mines, PFS Results Webcast, November 6, 2026

Mill Throughput & Recovery in the New Plan  

Madsen is ramping up to 800 tonnes per day (tpd) by year-end 2026, and the plan targets output of up to 1,200 tpd in some years. The mill reaches a steady-state 1,350 tpd once Rowan ore is blended in from 2029. It uses the existing grinding mills and a secondary crusher installed in September 2026, with added tanks and thickening further down the circuit.   

To reach that rate, the plan coarsens the grind, measured as the size 80% of milled ore passes through, from 75 microns to 106 microns. Testwork on Madsen ore suggests that a coarser grind results in a recovery loss of about 3%, and that Madsen recovery is capped at 94% at 106 microns, compared with 97% at 75 microns. Plant recovery is estimated to average 94.7% over the mine life, and shift recoveries at Madsen ranged from 93% to 98% when feed grade was over 3 g/t.   

What Comes Next for Madsen  

A technical report supporting the study, prepared in compliance with NI 43-101, will be filed within 45 days of the November 4 release. Mining in 2027 shifts primarily to non-remnant areas away from historic workings, with Fork and the 904 area entering the plan. The company is preparing a permit application to increase the mill's capacity from an 800 tpd average to 1,000 tpd. It expects to be able to run at that rate by the first quarter of 2027. The mill processes Madsen ore only in 2027 and 2028, before Rowan ore arrives in 2029.

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