West Red Lake Gold carrying the Madsen ball into the end zone for 2025 startup
When you’re in a horse race, it goes without saying that riding a thoroughbred is a distinct advantage. For West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd., there are advantages-a-plenty. Enter Frank Giustra. “When we created Goldcorp, one of the largest gold mining companies in the world, one of our acquisitions was the Red Lake Mine - it produced a lot of gold - very high grade gold and helped make Goldcorp a $50 billion dollar market cap company,” said the global mining icon, a Co-founder and Strategic Advisor to West Red Lake, the new face of the company.
It took Goldcorp 10 years to build Madsen and it was one of the company’s most important acquisitions. According to Independent Mining Analyst Gwen Preston of Resource Maven, the Madsen Mine’s most recent previous owners (Pure Gold) may have missed the opportunity. “When I first visited this project, it was back in 2014. The predecessor company came in and saw the opportunity that there’s still a bunch of high grade gold in the ground. They dove into that opportunity - they defined the gold in the ground - they built the mill - and they literally stumbled at the 99-yard line - and that’s where West Red Lake Gold Mines is picking up the project.
Chief Geologist Jillian Christmann calls the 47 square kilometer land package that West Red Lake acquired “a buffet of opportunity” in an area where exploration had been neglected. “With the right approach and the time that West Red Lake is willing to take to develop this property I think there’s nothing but endless opportunity to grow this mine and the surrounding area,” says Christmann in a company promotion.
“There’s very few precedents for being able to pick up a high-grade resource in a storied gold camp with a brand new mine built,” said Giustra. “Acquisitions like the Madsen Mine don’t happen. In my entire career, I’ve never seen an acquisition this attractive. The quality of the infrastructure here is absolutely perfect - it’s first class - it’s brand new - you couldn’t create this today with less than $700 million - it would take years, probably a decade,” he added. “It’s like buying a new car you could walk into, and you have that new car smell - that’s what this feels like.”
In June, the company outlined some of the key mine infrastructure and development projects they plan to undertake at the Madsen Mine in the near-to-medium-term with funds from its recent financings. WRLG has a goal to restart the high-grade Madsen gold mine in the second half of 2025. The company is working on a pre-feasibility study detailing that restart plan, which is targeted for release in early 2025.
“With the funds raised in our recent financings, including $10 million in Canadian Development Expense flow-through funding, we are excited to get started on these important projects,” according to Shane Williams, President & CEO. “With a year of work under our belts at Madsen, we know what needs to be procured, built, and developed at the mine site over the next six to twelve months to achieve our goal of restarting the mine in 2025. We look forward to keeping investors up to date on key milestones as this work progresses,” he added. “Our updated and refined geologic model has been performing well, as evidenced by our success reporting gold mineralization in both infill and expansion drill holes,” stated Will Robinson, VP of Exploration. “We are keen to continue building confidence in the Madsen resource with definition holes ahead of our prefeasibility study, to continue expanding the North and South Austin zones where our drill holes have been stepping out from known domains in recent months, and to test additional high caliber targets close to existing underground infrastructure where historic drill intercepts suggest there is good potential to define additional mineralization, like the 8 Zone.”
Back to the horse race. WRLG completed the acquisition of the Madsen by acquiring Pure Gold Mining Inc. in June 2023. Another thoroughbred was entered. The ink was barely dry when the West Red Lake announced that Tony Makuch would join their Board of Directors. Makuch has over 35 years of mining industry experience, is the CEO and Director of Discovery Silver Corp and was previously President, CEO and Director of Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.
During his five-year tenure as CEO of Kirkland Lake, Makuch led the transformation of the company, with annual gold production increasing from 315,000 oz to over 1,400,000 oz, the market capitalization of the company increasing from approximately C$1 billion to over C$13 billion and Kirkland’s share price increasing over 530%. These milestones were achieved through two successful acquisitions, industry-leading operational performance and significant exploration success and ultimately culminated in Kirkland’s merger with Agnico Eagle Mines Limited in 2022.
“We are delighted to have Tony Makuch join the board of directors of West Red Lake Gold.” said Frank Giustra when the announcement was made. “Tony brings a remarkable track record of achievements in gold mining, excelling as an engineer, executive, and company builder. With the recent appointments of Shane Williams and Duncan Middlemiss, West Red Lake Gold team is now fortified with three leaders in mine development and operations in the Canadian Shield. I am inspired by the team we are building.”
Join Derek Teevan, Vice President, Community Affairs at the CEN CAN Expo on September 12th as he will present the West Red Lake Gold Mines and how they are working towards the restart of the Madsen Gold Mine in 2025. Since acquiring the asset in mid-2023, the team has used data from an extensive and ongoing infill drill program to update the block model and create a stope book with optionality. The company is also advancing several major capital projects designed to increase mining efficiency, including a drift to connect the disparate side of the underground mine, a 114-person camp, a permanent primary crusher, and a tailings dam lift. Through its experienced mining team, WRLG strives to unlock the 1.7 million ounces of known gold at this high grade mine and search for more. Derek will provide an update on the current projects and provide an overview of where the company is headed as part of the Projects in the Pipeline Conference. The day is packed with excitement as the conference will feature 15 speakers, panel discussions and question periods.
Register today for Tickets which includes a trade show and conference pass with breakfast networking and lunch included. Tickets are limited. Visit https://virtex.cencanexpo.ca/expoactivity/activitypage/type/expoactivity_pipeline to get yours today. For multiple tickets please call 705-264-2251.
Tags: Northern Ontario / Operational Updates / Gold / All Articles