West Red Lake Gold Advancing Toward Production with Robust Drill Results

West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV:WRLG) is a mineral exploration company 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, Canada. The company also holds the wholly owned Rowan Property in Red Lake, which covers 31 km² and includes three past-producing gold mines - Rowan, Mount Jamie, and Red Summit. The Red Lake Gold District has historically been one of Canada's most productive gold mining regions, having yielded over 30 million ounces of gold from high-grade zones.

West Red Lake Gold is currently transitioning from developer to producer status, with significant progress being made on the restart of the Madsen Mine in 2025. The combination of operational achievements and encouraging drill results positions the company to potentially benefit from current strong gold prices as it moves toward production in the coming months.

Mill Restart Achievement

A major milestone in West Red Lake Gold's development timeline was reached in March 2025 with the successful restart of the Madsen Mill. After 28 months of maintained dry shutdown, the mill began processing low-grade material on March 10th with no operational issues encountered during the restart.

The mill team completed extensive pre-commissioning work prior to restart, including replacing mill liners and discharge lines, cycling process water through the system, and revitalizing the CIP and carbon circuits. This preparation has paid dividends, as the mill has transitioned smoothly from processing legacy low-grade stockpile material to modern low-grade material.

In the company update, President and CEO Shane Williams, expressed the success of this major start,

"Turning on the Madsen Mill to process the bulk sample was a very exciting moment for the entire West Red Lake Gold team, who have been working tirelessly in recent months as we push towards production. A smooth restart of this major piece of infrastructure reinforces that our level of preparation has created translated into successful operational readiness ahead of initial production. With gold prices trading at record levels, it is an exciting and fortuitous time to be making the transition from developer to producer."

The next phase will involve processing bulk sample material from Stope 1, with stopes to be processed sequentially. Following this, independent authorities will complete reconciliation calculations between expected and actual tonnes, grade, and ounces for each stope.

Operations & Workforce Development

Another significant development is the completion of the new 114-person workforce accommodations facility at the Madsen Mine, which is now operational and housing workers. All rooms in the camp are executive junior suites, reflecting the company's commitment to creating comfortable conditions for its workforce. This infrastructure enhancement is expected to help attract and retain quality personnel while reducing pressure on local housing.

"We are very glad that we can hire 60% of our workforce locally, which supports Red Lake and enables workers to live at home," said Hayley Halsall-Whitney, Vice President of Operations. "This new, comfortable camp will help us attract additional quality personnel to work at Madsen and will ease pressure on housing in the community."

Underground Development Progress

Underground development at the Madsen Mine continues to accelerate, with the average development rate increasing from 20 meters per day in January to 23.8 meters per day in February 2025. This improving rate of development is crucial for creating operational flexibility in the mine by accessing multiple working faces efficiently.

"Attaining a sufficient rate of development is an important requirement at Madsen and it is achieved through focused attention and strong teamwork," said Halsall-Whitney. "I am very pleased to see this rate rising and expect to see this trend continue as the Madsen team's skills and coordination continue to improve."

The Connection Drift, a critical infrastructure component, is now 94% complete, with 1,380 meters finished of the planned 1.4-kilometer distance. Only 84 meters remain to be completed. To ensure precise alignment between the two advancing faces, a diamond drill rig was used to drill from the west side and successfully intercepted the approaching westward advance.

Financing Update

To support its ongoing development activities, West Red Lake Gold has drawn an additional US$7.5 million from Tranche 2 of its previously announced US$35 million credit facility with Nebari Natural Resources Credit Fund II LP. This brings the total drawn to US$22.5 million, following the initial US$15 million Tranche 1 drawdown on December 31, 2024.

The proceeds from this financing will be used to complete the remaining capital costs for restarting the Madsen Mine and to fund corporate, exploration, and working capital expenses. The credit facility has a maturity date of June 30, 2028, with repayment of 50% of the principal via fixed straight-line amortization commencing 15 months after the Tranche 1 drawdown.

High-Grade Drill Results from Austin Zone

Adding to the positive operational developments, West Red Lake Gold recently reported impressive drill results from the Austin Zone at the Madsen Mine. The drilling was focused on definition and expansion within priority areas to build an inventory of high-confidence ounces to support the planned production restart.

The Austin Zone currently contains an Indicated mineral resource of 914,200 ounces grading 6.9 g/t gold, with an additional Inferred resource of 104,900 ounces grading 6.5 g/t gold. The recent drill results highlighted several high-grade intercepts, including:

• 10.5m @ 12.43 g/t Au, including 0.6m @ 106.06 g/t Au (Hole MM25D-12-4848-005)
• 4.3m @ 30.16 g/t Au, including 1.1m @ 106.10 g/t Au (Hole MM25D-12-4848-050)
• 5.4m @ 23.81 g/t Au, including 0.5m @ 212.13 g/t Au (Hole MM25D-12-4848-022)
• 9.6m @ 10.98 g/t Au, including 0.5m @ 45.34 g/t Au (Hole MM25D-12-4848-025)
• 5.85m @ 17.29 g/t Au, including 1.5m @ 45.31 g/t Au (Hole MM25D-12-4848-045)

Shane Williams, President & CEO, commented on the significance of these results:

"It's a huge advantage that our team has been active underground at the Madsen mine for almost two years, because we have been able to get drills to many high priority areas of the deposit ahead of mine restart.

High grade panels in Austin are currently within the life-of-mine plan and are expected to deliver meaningful, high-margin tonnes during the first eighteen to twenty-four months of production.

Technical Details of the Austin Zone

The Austin Zone is one of several mineralized domains at the Madsen Mine, accessed through the West Portal. Like other domains at the mine, the Austin structures are hosted within broad, kilometer-scale planar alteration and deformation corridors that have been repeatedly reactivated during gold mineralization and subsequent deformation and metamorphism.

The mineralization at Austin consists of multiple domains defined over a strike length of 0.5km and remains open at depth and along strike to the northeast. In drill core, gold-bearing zones are identified by fine grains of free gold within strong alteration and veining. Pervasive silicification and quartz-carbonate or diopside veining are the best indicators of high-grade zones within the mineralized structure.

The current underground drilling program at Madsen is focused on further definition of near-term mining inventory and resource growth, concentrating on the more continuous and higher-grade portions of the Austin, South Austin, North Austin, and McVeigh Zones. This strategy will continue through 2025.

Conclusion: Investment Considerations

West Red Lake Gold Mines is making steady progress on multiple fronts as it advances toward becoming a gold producer in 2025. The successful mill restart, increasing underground development rates, near-completion of the Connection Drift, and establishment of camp facilities demonstrate operational execution and readiness. Meanwhile, the high-grade drill results from the Austin Zone confirm the resource quality and potential for high-margin production.

For investors considering West Red Lake Gold, the company offers exposure to a near-term gold producer in a historically prolific mining district, with infrastructure already in place and advancing toward production. The recent financing provides the capital needed to complete the mine restart, while the robust drill results suggest potential for resource growth and sustained high-grade production. As global gold prices remain strong, the timing of West Red Lake Gold's transition to producer status may provide favorable economics for this emerging Canadian gold producer.