Westhaven Gold Hits Bonanza Grade Gold at Shovelnose Project

• Westhaven Gold's focus is the Spences Bridge Gold Belt (SBGB), where they have four projects, with Shovelnose being their flagship property.
• A significant discovery was reported with a drill result of 23 meters at 37 grams per ton of gold. This is considered the best hole drilled on the property and possibly in the entire Spences Bridge Gold Belt.
• Current drilling focuses on systematically expanding known zones and filling gaps in data. The company plans to continue drilling with a potential 20,000 to 30,000 meters drilled, targeting both known veins and exploring new areas.
• The company's stock surged (approximately 70%) after it reported the significant gold discovery, highlighting the positive correlation between exploration success and share price performance.

Westhaven Gold Corp has announced a major new high-grade gold discovery at its Shovelnose project in southern British Columbia. A recent drill hole at the FMN target intercepted 23m at 37.2 g/t gold, including 1.21m at 328 g/t gold. This is the best drill result to date on the property and demonstrates the potential for Westhaven to outline a significant high-grade resource.

With ongoing drilling and continued exploration success, Westhaven offers speculative investors excellent leverage to increasing gold resources and expanding exploration upside at Shovelnose and its neighboring projects.

Highlights

• Drill hole SN22-212 intersected 23m at 37.2 g/t gold, including 1.21m at 328 g/t gold at the FMN target. Thisintercept demonstrates bonanza grades and is the best hole drilled at Shovelnose to date.
• This hole was part of the ongoing 2022 drill program testing the current 2km gap between the South Zone and FMN zone. Mineralization remains open along strike and at depth.
• The FMN target is located over 1km from the South Zone which hosts an existing inferred resource of 1.1Moz AuEq. This shows the potential for Westhaven to significantly expand resources by connecting these zones.
• Systematic drilling in 50m centers at the FMN zone led to this discovery, highlighting the exploration upside remaining across the 4km strike length of Vein Zone 1.
• Recent drilling at the Alpine zone shows potential to add resources immediately adjacent to the current South Zone resource. A 2021 hole hit 45 g/t gold over 3.13m, open in all directions.
• Westhaven is well funded with around $3M cash following a recent financing. This is sufficient for the 20,000m minimum drill program planned for 2022. Additional cash would allow for expansion of drilling.
• The Shovelnose property covers over 30km of prospective ground on the Spences Bridge Gold Belt in BC, demonstrating substantial exploration upside. Neighboring Westhaven projects provide additional opportunities.
• Low-sulfidation epithermal gold deposits like Shovelnose offer potential for high-grade resources amenable to low cost open pit mining. Recent exploration success and systematic drilling points to resource growth potential.

Shovelnose Exploration Potential

The Shovelnose property is located around 30km south of Merritt in southern British Columbia. It forms a strategic land holding within the emerging Spences Bridge Gold Belt which stretches 110km NW-SE from Princeton to Lower Nicola.

This belt is prospective for low sulfidation epithermal gold deposits and has seen relatively limited exploration historically. Much of the activity was initiated in the early 2000s based on regional stream sediment sampling by the BC Geological Survey identifying gold anomalies.

Westhaven staked the Shovelnose claims in 2004 and has been exploring the property since 2011. Over this time, Westhaven has drilled over 15,000m in 150 holes, providing a solid database to guide ongoing exploration.

Work by consulting expert Dr. Jeff Hedenquist in 2017 was key to unlocking the exploration potential at Shovelnose. His recommendations to complete detailed ground magnetic surveys and clay mineral analysis using Terraspec led Westhaven to the discovery of South Zone in 2018.

South Zone has an existing inferred resource of 1.1Moz AuEq in 3 distinct low-angle quartz vein zones covering over 4km of strike. The bulk of this resource is in Vein Zone 1 which extends along strike from South Zone to the northwest through the FMN, Franz and Tower target areas.

Ongoing drilling by Westhaven continues to demonstrate excellent expansion potential both along strike and at depth. For example, the new discovery hole at FMN shows potential for South Zone-style bonanza grade mineralization connecting to existing lower grade mineralization 1km to the NW.

Meanwhile, drilling at the Alpine zone shows potential for immediate open pit resource expansion adjacent to South Zone in an area that saw limited 2021 drilling. Westhaven will be aggressively following up these results through its fully funded 2022 drill program.

Bonanza Gold Grades at FMN Zone

The highlight from recent Westhaven drilling is hole SN22-212 at the FMN zone which intersected 23m at 37.2 g/t gold from 98-121m downhole. This included an exceptional 1.21m interval grading 328 g/t gold demonstrating the high-grade potential. This hole is collared around 1km NW of the current South Zone resource and was drilled to follow up on lower grade intercepts in previous holes. It demonstrates the upside to identify new zones of high-grade within the existing 4km mineralized trend.

According to Westhaven's exploration manager Peter Fischl, key indicators pointing to the potential for high grades included:

• Banded quartz-adularia veining showing evidence of boiling
• Dark bands of amorphous sulfides/sulfosalts
• Visible gold and strong gold hits on portable XRF analysis, a relatively rare occurrence

These visual indicators prompted immediate rush assaying which confirmed the exceptional grades. This FMN intercept is near the surface, starting at only 86m downhole, highlighting the potential for open pit mining. Much of the South Zone resource starts at over 100m depth after passing through thicker overburden.

Drilling is ongoing at FMN with current holes stepping out 50m on a section to the SE to test along strike of this high-grade structure. Additional potential lies to the NW towards the Franz zone where Westhaven sees mineralization open.

Expanding Resources at Alpine Zone

In addition to the new discovery drilling at FMN, Westhaven is advancing the Alpine zone south of South Zone as a potential source of rapid resource expansion.

This area saw limited drilling in 2021 as Westhaven focused on infill drilling for its maiden resource estimate. However, hole SN21-158 drilled late in the season intersected 45 g/t gold over 3.13m from 38m depth.

The shallow nature of this intercept and location along strike from the South Zone resource highlights the potential to quickly add resources. The wide spacing of the previous drilling means this zone is untested and open in all directions.

Westhaven has kicked off drilling at Alpine with an initial step out 50m on a section to the NW. Additional holes will systematically test 50m step-outs to determine the extent of this mineralization and potential connectivity with the main South Zone resource. Any new resources delineated could be incorporated into an updated resource estimate.

Advancing a Pipeline of Projects

Beyond Shovelnose, Westhaven owns a 100% interest in three earlier-stage neighboring properties - Skoonka Creek, Prospect Valley and Skoonka North. All display similar geology and are prospective for epithermal gold mineralization. In particular, Skoonka Creek hosts several undrilled gold-in-soil anomalies that will be tested with an initial 1,500m drill program in 2022. Any success here would add a third potential drill target alongside Shovelnose and Prospect Valley.

This growing portfolio of projects provides Westhaven with grassroots exploration upside to complement the resource expansion potential at Shovelnose. Over time, satellite deposits could supplement a central mining operation to enhance economics.

Experienced Team Poised for Success

Westhaven benefits from an experienced and proven technical team capable of advancing exploration success into economic deposits.

CEO Gareth Thomas has raised over $100M for junior mining explorers and led numerous teams in the discovery of 5 significant deposits. His background includes senior roles with Teck and several juniors. Chairman Shaun Pollard is also heavily experienced in mining finance and serves as Senior Managing Director at Cantor Fitzgerald Canada. He provides valuable capital markets expertise. Exploration Manager Peter Fischl has direct experience exploring epithermal gold systems globally, including at the world-class Kupol mine in Russia. His recommendations were key to unlocking the potential at Shovelnose.

This core team works alongside diverse geological experts with specific epithermal, geophysics and modeling expertise required to make discoveries. Their results to date provide confidence in continued exploration success.

Investment Upside with Exploration Momentum

Westhaven offers investors an attractive opportunity to gain exposure to systematic exploration likely to generate ongoing discoveries. Recent drill results confirm high-grade gold potential and existing resources demonstrate scale potential.

The current $25M market cap provides leverage to resource growth and new discoveries given existing resources of over 1Moz gold equivalent. Continued drilling success would be a strong share price catalyst. With a current cash balance capable of funding at least 6 months of exploration, Westhaven is positioned to maintain momentum. Additional funding later in 2022 would enable an expanded program.

Ultimately Shovelnose shows clear evidence of a significant epithermal gold system. The project benefits from excellent location in a tier 1 mining jurisdiction near infrastructure. With ample prospective ground left to explore, Westhaven has strong potential to delineate an economic deposit. As systematic drilling continues to unlock the value at Shovelnose and satellite targets like Skoonka Creek, Westhaven presents a compelling speculative investment opportunity. The recent high-grade discovery hole highlights the exploration upside that still exists.

Investors looking for leverage to exploration success and resource growth should have Westhaven on their radar.

The Investment Thesis for Westhaven Gold

Leverage to Exploration Upside

• With a $25M market cap, Westhaven offers leverage to exploration success. Future resource growth and discoveries could significantly re-rate the stock.
• Systematic drilling is generating ongoing positive results like the recent bonanza grades. This demonstrates the exploration potential remaining across the 30km trend.
• Neighboring early-stage projects add further blue sky potential as drilling looks to unlock value across the portfolio.

Expanding Gold Resources

• Current drilling shows excellent potential to expand existing resources of 1.1Moz gold equivalent at South Zone.
• Infill drilling could improve confidence in current inferred resources while step outs expand resources along strike and at depth.
• New discovery areas like FMN and Alpine zone offer opportunities to delineate entirely new open pit resources close to existing resources.

Proven Team with Discovery Experience

• Management has extensive experience successfully exploring, financing and developing mining projects.
• They have led prior teams responsible for 5 significant deposit discoveries.
• Technical team includes leading epithermal gold experts who unlocked the potential at Shovelnose. Their involvement provides confidence in ongoing exploration success.

Strong Location in Mining-Friendly Jurisdiction

• British Columbia is a premier mining jurisdiction with excellent infrastructure. Shovelnose is conveniently located near major highways.
• B.C. consistently ranks among the most attractive jurisdictions globally for mining investment based on policy support, access to land and geological potential.

Summary

By providing exposure to resource expansion and exploration upside under proven leadership in a prime jurisdiction, Westhaven offers investors an attractive risk/reward opportunity. Continued positive drill results would serve as a strong catalyst for share price appreciation.