Westhaven Gold (WHN) - 2nd Mineral Resource by YE/22

Westhaven Gold Corp is a Canadian-based gold exploration company primarily focused on its Shovelnose project in the southwestern region of British Columbia on the Spences Bridge Gold Belt. The company owns a 100%-interest in 4 properties within its 35,000 ha land package, namely the Prospect Valley, Shovelnose, Skoonka Creek and Skoonka North gold projects.

Matthew Gordon spoke to Gareth Thomas, President, CEO and Director, of Westhaven Gold Corp. (TSX-V:WHN) to discuss the company’s recent announcement and its plan for the year.

Company overview

Westhaven Gold Corp is focussing heavily on the development of its flagship Shovelnose property where it recently published its inaugural mineral resource estimate (MRE). The highlights of the MRE include 841,000 indicated ounces of gold equivalent at 2.47 g/t and 277,000 Inferred ounces of gold equivalent at 0.94 g/t.

The company completed 40,000 m of exploration drilling at its Shovelnose property in 2021 even through delays and exploration halts caused by various environmental factors such as wildfires in August and severe floods in November. The company recently resumed its exploration drilling at the forget me not (FMN) zone of the Shovelnose project with it reporting intercepts of 4.4 m of 5.85 g/t gold and 18.41 g/t silver and  27 m of 1.74 g/t gold and 5.88 g/t silver.

Projects

The Spences Bridge Gold Belt is a 110 km northwest trending belt of intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks, which are highly prospective for epithermal style gold mineralisation. Epithermal style gold mineralisation is usually caused by hydrothermal fluids at shallow levels in the earth’s crust resulting in diverse forms of mineralisation including bulk tonnage, veins, fault-hosted veins, stockwork veins and breccia pipes.

Westhaven Gold Corp owns 100% of all four of its projects located on the Spences Bridge Gold Belt, with all of the projects located in close proximity to large producing mines. The four projects of Westhaven Gold Corp on the Spences Bridge Gold Belt are the Prospect Valley, Shovelnose, Skoonka Creek and Skoonka North gold projects.

The company is currently focused mainly on the advancement of its Shovelnose project, for which it recently published a mineral resource estimate based on open-pit mining methods.

Shovelnose

The Shovelnose property is a 17,623 ha land package located approximately 30 km from the town of Merritt in British Columbia. The property is accessible through a provisional highway as well as logging roads. Westhaven Gold Corp has drilled over 320 holes, culminating into over 123,000  m of diamond drilling at the Shovelnose property since 2021. The entirety of exploration at the Shovelnose property has cost approximately USD$ 25 million.

The company conducted an initial mineral resource of the Shovelnose project in January 2022, which highlighted a total of over 1 million ounces of indicated and inferred gold. The open-pit mineral resource estimate was conducted on the South Zone of the Shovelnose project and was based on the analysis of 145 surface drill holes totalling approximately 56,491 m of drilling, 25,920 drill core samples, 3,302 bulk density measurements, and the completion of preliminary metallurgical test work.

The mineral resource estimate (MRE) showed indicated mineralisation values of 791,000 ounces of gold and 3,894,000 ounces of silver. The inferred mineral estimate shows 263,000 ounces of gold and 1,023,000 ounces of silver. The company is pleased with the mineral resource estimate and believes the combined mineral estimate of over 1 million ounces of gold is a major milestone.

The completed mineral resource estimate is based on potential open-pit mining methods, with the company currently underway with a mineral resource estimate for planned underground mining at the Shovelnose project.

The Shovelnose project has various mineralisation zones of interest including the Franz, South and forget me not (FMN) zones.

The FMN zone

The forget me not (FMN) zone, of the Shovelnose project, is of particular interest for Westhaven Gold Corp. The FMN Zone is located approximately 2 km northwest of the South zone and hosts the potential of high-grade gold mineralisation.

The exploration of the Shovelnose project and in particular the FMN zone has not been smooth sailing for the company, as exploration was halted twice in 2021. The exploration program was halted due to environmental factors such as wildfires and severe flooding of the Merritt District.

The company halted its exploration program in August of 2021 after wildfires broke out close to its Shovelnose property, with exploration recommencing in early September 2021. The recommencement of exploration included the aim of initiating exploration drilling at the FMN zone.

The company announced that it had initiated the exploration of the FMN zone in October 2021 with two drill rigs active at the site. The exploration of the FMN zone was brought to a halt again in November 2021 due to severe flooding in the Merritt district.

Westhaven Gold Corp however was still able to complete 40,077 m of diamond drilling in 2021, showing its intent and dedication to the advancement of its Shovelnose project. The company also announced the discovery of high-grade intercepts at the FMN zone including 9.15 g/t of gold over 15.97 m.  The exploration drilling program has to date shown high-grade mineralization at the FMN zone over a strike length of 480 m and a vertical range of 270 m. The mineralisation of the FMN zone starts at the top of bedrock in an area with minimal glacial till cover and no more than 30 m of overburden.

The company recommenced drilling of the FMN zone in January 2022 and reported 40 m of 5.85 g/t gold and 18.41 g/t silver. The intercept occurred within a mineralisation zone of 27.00 m with an average grade of 1.74 g/t gold and 5.88 g/t silver.

The company aims to show the occurrence of high-grade mineralisation similar to that found at its south zone through the exploration program at the FMN zone.

Cash position and future plans

Westhaven Gold Corp plans to expand its exploration program in 2022, with the company aiming to have multiple drill rigs active at its property by spring 2022. The company also plans to publish the pending assay results of the FMN and South zone as they become available.

The planned 2022 exploration program will consist of approximately 20,000 m of exploration drilling, focused on the expansion of the FMN zone as well as the exploration of priority targets located along the mineralisation trend of the Shovelnose project.

The company believes that its cash position of approximately CAD$ 4 million will be sufficient to see it reach its exploration endeavours. The cash position is sufficient thanks to Westhaven Gold Corp’s low all-in drilling cost of CAD$ 200 per metre. The company will raise funds should it become necessary.

Westhaven Gold Corp aims to publish the mineral resource estimate of the planned underground mining method at the Shovelnose project, as well as release a resource estimate of the FMN zone by the end of 2022.

‍To find out more, go to the Westhaven Gold Corp website