Westhaven Gold Gets Major Backing from Franco-Nevada

• Westhaven GoldCorp, under President and CEO Gareth Thomas, is primarily concentrated on the Spence's Bridge Gold Belt located in southwestern British Columbia.
• Westhaven has arranged a financing deal with Franco Nevada, amounting to approximately C$10 million. This involves selling a 2% NSR (Net Smelter Return) on all their projects to Franco Nevada. This move provides Westhaven with liquidity into 2024.
• The Franco Nevada investment is seen as a significant endorsement of Westhaven's potential. The funds will be used to further their drilling activities, especially on the Shovelnose and Skoonka projects. Westhaven aims to increase its gold and silver inventory, with a goal of reaching a two-million-ounce mark.
• The current market conditions present challenges, with inflation affecting both explorers and producers. Westhaven plans to continue with two drilling rigs, with the potential to scale up based on market conditions.
• Westhaven believes in the multi-million-ounce potential of their projects. They are currently drilling to explore gaps, test targets, and potentially discover parallel structures to their main sites. The geographical layout of their main site is considered favorable for future mining activities.

Westhaven Gold Corp. has secured a major endorsement and financing from royalty and streaming company giant Franco-Nevada. The C$10M+ strategic investment provides multi-year funding for exploration at Westhaven's British Columbia gold projects and validates the potential for Westhaven to outline multi-million ounce resources. For investors, Franco-Nevada’s backing and 0.75M equity financing represent a strong vote of confidence in Westhaven’s assets and growth strategy.

Westhaven Sells Royalties to Franco-Nevada for C$10M+

In an oversubscribed private placement, Westhaven has sold a package of royalties on its British Columbia projects to Franco-Nevada for US$7.75M. This includes a 2% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on Westhaven’s flagship Shovelnose gold project and a 2.5% NSR royalty on properties held by Talisker Resources.

The royalty sale provides Westhaven with capital to aggressively explore its properties over the next 2+ years, with no need for dilutive equity financings. Alongside the royalty purchase, Franco-Nevada will invest an additional US$1M into Westhaven via a private placement at C$0.53 per share.

In total, Westhaven will receive over C$10M in funding from the royalty sale and equity investment. With exploration tax credits, this rises to C$13M+ funding. The Franco-Nevada backing represents a strong endorsement from one of the world's largest and most successful royalty companies.

Low-Risk Funding for Multi-Year Exploration Programs

For Westhaven, the Franco-Nevada deal provides significant multi-year funding, while avoiding dilution for current shareholders. In the current volatile market conditions, securing non-dilutive financing is a major boost. CEO Gareth Thomas states the royalty sale was the "best option moving forward", enabling aggressive exploration without impacting Westhaven's share structure. The deal will fund at least 2 years of drilling and exploration work.

Westhaven can now accelerate exploration, including maiden drilling at its Skoonka project, while advancing high-priority Shovelnose targets. The funding eliminates any need to raise capital through dilutive equity financings in the near term.

Franco-Nevada Backing Validates Multi-Million Ounce Potential

Westhaven is a small exploration company, with a market capitalization of just C$30M. Franco-Nevada's willingness to invest over C$10M represents a strong validation of Westhaven's projects.

CEO Gareth Thomas notes the royalty investment is a "huge endorsement" from a respected major player, indicative of Westhaven's potential to delineate multi-million-ounce resources across its district-scale land package. In particular, Franco-Nevada's technical team believes Shovelnose has the potential to host several million ounces of gold. While low sulfidation epithermal deposits can be irregular, they see the large 4km mineralized structure as an emerging gold district.

The vote of confidence from one of the world's leading gold royalty investors is a positive sign for Westhaven's exploration upside. Franco-Nevada's patient, long-term approach suggests confidence resources will eventually be delineated.

Aggressive Exploration Across Multiple Projects

With funding secured, Westhaven is progressing aggressive exploration programs across its British Columbia properties. Two drill rigs are currently operating - one at Shovelnose and another commencing maiden drilling at Skoonka.

At Shovelnose, drilling is testing for extensions of the high-grade FMN zone, as well as following up on peripheral targets. Recent drilling has discovered a new parallel vein structure 1.2km north of the main trend. Westhaven sees Shovelnose as an emerging potential gold district. The Phase 1 drill program at Skunka will test multiple targets at this underexplored project. Skoonka is prospective for epithermal vein and porphyry-style mineralization.

In addition to drilling, Westhaven has geologists undertaking prospecting and mapping work to advance earlier-stage targets. The company has over 20,000 hectares of underexplored ground on its 100% controlled properties.

Advancing Towards a Critical Mass Resource Inventory

Westhaven's exploration efforts are focused on expanding the resource inventory at Shovelnose and its neighboring projects. The company's flagship Shovelnose project already hosts a 1.1M ounce inferred gold resource.

However, Westhaven aims to outline a globally significant resource of +2M ounces. CEO Gareth Thomas views this as a "magic number" where projects gain greater investor interest and optionality for development scenarios. With the South Zone resource already defined, Westhaven is now looking to add resources through new discoveries along the mineralized Shovelnose trend. The company expects to update the Shovelnose resource estimate in 2023, incorporating recent high-grade intercepts.

Exploration success over the next 2 years could quickly elevate Shovelnose into a world-class asset. The backing of Franco-Nevada suggests these exploration programs have solid potential.

Bottom Line: Validation of Exploration Potential

For investors, Franco-Nevada's strategic investment and royalty acquisition provides strong third-party validation of Westhaven's assets and growth strategy.

Franco-Nevada's technical team believes Shovelnose and Westhaven's surrounding projects can outline multi-million ounce gold resources over time. The royalty investment only generates returns for Franco-Nevada if exploration is successful. With funding secured for the next 2+ years, Westhaven can aggressively advance its targets without resorting to dilutive financings. Drilling and exploration results in the period ahead will demonstrate whether Shovelnose can evolve into a major gold discovery.

For investors looking to gain exposure to undiscovered gold deposits, Westhaven offers high-leverage exploration upside. The backing of Franco-Nevada suggests the projects and exploration programs have significant potential. Westhaven now has the funding to fully test and advance that potential over the next several years.

There are a few considerations for investors when evaluating Westhaven Gold Corp

Pros:

• Validation from major player Franco-Nevada's strategic investment and royalty acquisition provides third-party credibility. Franco-Nevada likely sees multi-million-ounce potential at Westhaven's projects.
• Funding secured for the next 2+ years of exploration without the need for dilutive financings in the near term. Reduces financing risk.
• Projects located in mining-friendly British Columbia, Canada with good infrastructure. Reduces jurisdictional risk.
• Existing 1.1M ounce gold resource provides a base to build on. Reduces some exploration risk.

Cons:

• Still an early-stage exploration company focused on outlining resources. Significant risks around exploration success.
• Epithermal gold deposits can be irregular, making exploration unpredictable. Adds uncertainty to resource growth.
• Share price and market cap could remain volatile prior to exploration success. Likelihood of share price fluctuations.
• Potential for dilution in future if large capital is needed to advance any deposits to production.

Overall, it might be a reasonable speculative investment for cautious investors given the backing of Franco-Nevada and funding secured for exploration programs. However, limitations on position size would be prudent given the early-stage nature of the projects. Most cautious investors would likely want to see exploration success and resource growth prior to making any large investments.