West Red Lake Gold Reports High-Grade Gold Results

• West Red Lake Gold's bulk sample program at Madsen Mine achieved close reconciliation between expected and actual tonnes, grade, and contained ounces across six stopes, validating the company's mining workflow and geological modeling capabilities.
• Higher gold prices enable larger stope designs and more efficient long hole mining methods, reducing costs and increasing operational flexibility.
• Definition drilling at South Austin Zone continues to deliver exceptional high-grade results, including 61.51 g/t Au over 12.1m and 43.54 g/t Au over 8.35m, with visible gold consistently present in drill core.
• Mining complexes derived from larger stopes show significant resource expansion, with South Austin 4447 complex achieving 212% increase in tonnage and 320% increase in contained ounces through definition drilling.
• The company officially restarted production at Madsen Mine on May 2025 with an 18-month detailed mine plan predominantly utilizing lower-cost long hole mining methods.

West Red Lake Gold Mines (TSXV:WRLG) is a mineral development company focused on advancing its flagship Madsen Gold Mine and associated 47 km² land package in Ontario's Red Lake Gold District. The company operates in one of the world's most productive gold regions, which has yielded over 30 million ounces from high-grade zones. WRLG also owns the Rowan Property covering 31 km², including three past-producing gold mines.

For investors evaluating West Red Lake Gold Mines, the company presents a compelling opportunity with its recently restarted Madsen Mine, demonstrated ability to mine according to plan through successful bulk sampling, and expanding high-grade resource base supported by ongoing definition drilling programs.

Bulk Sample Program Validates Mining Approach

West Red Lake Gold's test mining and bulk sample program at Madsen Mine achieved its primary objectives of confirming geological modeling accuracy and testing various mining scenarios. The program demonstrated the company's ability to execute its mining workflow effectively.

The company news release emphasized the significance of these results: "Close reconciliation between expected and actual tonnes, grade, and contained ounces across six stopes in three areas of the resource validates the Company's ability to mine at Madsen according to plan."

The bulk sample program revealed two critical operational advantages. Test mining demonstrated the ability to mine adjacent to historic stopes, reducing barriers in stope design and unlocking additional resource potential. Additionally, the program highlighted efficiencies gained from mining larger stopes and clusters of proximal stopes, known as mining complexes.

Operational Optimization

The company's mine design approach has evolved significantly due to higher gold price assumptions. West Red Lake Gold currently uses a consensus long-term gold price of US$2,350 per ounce in mine design, substantially higher than the US$1,680 per ounce used in the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS).

This price differential has profound operational implications. The PFS mine plan, based on lower gold prices, required 60% of mining to utilize small, high-grade stopes requiring cut-and-fill mining methods. The higher gold price environment enables larger stope designs that can utilize long hole stoping, a significantly lower-cost mining method. The company's bulk sample was mined exclusively using long hole stoping methods with high success rates, and the majority of the 18-month detailed mine plan employs this lower-cost approach.

Resource Expansion

West Red Lake Gold's workflow for detailed mine design follows a systematic approach: definition drilling at 7-meter spacing, updating short-term models with new drill data, and engineering stopes to maximize economic extraction at assumed gold prices.

This methodology has produced substantial resource expansion in targeted areas. The South Austin 4447 stope complex realized a 212% increase in tonnage and 320% increase in contained ounces, primarily driven by definition drilling. Similarly, the Austin 1099/1100 stope complex achieved a 204% increase in tonnage and 222% increase in contained ounces.

The company explains that larger stopes and mining complexes provide three key economic advantages: lower mining costs through long hole stoping methods, reduced cost of access development per tonne mined by spreading development costs over more ounces, and improved operational flexibility and efficiency through focused mining operations.

South Austin Zone Delivers Exceptional High-Grade Results

Recent drilling at South Austin Zone continues to validate the area's high-grade potential. The zone currently contains an Indicated mineral resource of 474,600 ounces grading 8.7 g/t Au within 1.7 million tonnes, with additional Inferred resources of 31,800 ounces.

Notable recent drill results include Hole MM25D-08-4380-011, which intersected 12.1m at 61.51 g/t Au, including 1m at 725.00 g/t Au. Hole MM25D-08-4380-003 returned 8.35m at 43.54 g/t Au, including 1m at 347.81 g/t Au. Hole MM25D-08-4380-026 intersected 11.2m at 24.61 g/t Au, including 1.5m at 166.36 g/t Au.

In the news release, Williams commented on the South Austin results: "The South Austin zone has been producing very high grades and impressive widths in the definition drilling program to begin 2025 -- often associated with the presence of visible gold. The team is successfully defining a panel of very high-grade mineralization in South Austin between 8L and 12L of the mine."

The presence of visible gold remains a consistent indicator of high-grade zones. Williams noted: "It is becoming apparent that a lot of high-grade material was left behind in this area by historic operators and we are taking full advantage of this low hanging fruit that sits immediately adjacent to our existing underground development."

Mine Life Extension Potential

The higher gold price environment suggests potential for converting additional resources to reserves, extending mine life beyond the seven years outlined in the PFS. The Madsen Mine PFS described probable reserves of only 478,000 ounces from a total indicated resource of 1.65 million ounces.

West Red Lake Gold's approach enables mining of lower-grade halo mineralization surrounding high-grade lenses when economic conditions support inclusion. This strategy can result in larger stopes encompassing multiple high-grade lenses with surrounding mineralization, and define new mining shapes around proximal mineralized areas previously not considered economic.

The company maintains that definition drilling enables accurate modeling of both high-grade lenses and lower-grade halo mineralization, supporting confident mine design decisions.

Conclusion for Investors

The company's mine engineering approach responds dynamically to gold price conditions, with mine design serving as both a technical and economic exercise. West Red Lake Gold maintains this practice will continue at Madsen Mine, suggesting ongoing optimization as market conditions evolve.

The transition from predominantly cut-and-fill mining in the original PFS to primarily long hole stoping in current plans represents significant cost reduction potential. Long hole stoping methods typically achieve substantially lower per-tonne costs compared to cut-and-fill operations.

The company's ability to mine larger stopes and focus operations on fewer mining complexes should support improved equipment utilization, personnel efficiency, and material movement planning.