Westhaven Gold Corp has successfully completed an expanded summer drilling program at its fully-owned Shovelnose Gold Project in southern British Columbia, marking significant progress in the company's exploration and development initiatives.
Expanded Drilling Program Exceeds Expectations
The Vancouver-based mining company executed 6,202 meters of drilling across 13 holes during its 2025 summer program, more than doubling the originally planned 3,000-meter campaign. This substantial increase demonstrates Westhaven's commitment to accelerating development at the Shovelnose property located within the prospective Spences Bridge Gold Belt.
Two dedicated drill holes targeting the South Zone successfully intersected epithermal mineralization consistent with the existing resource model, providing crucial data that helps de-risk the project. The remaining drilling operations focused on testing peripheral regions around the established Shovelnose gold deposits, including the South Zone, FMN, and Franz deposits.
New Exploration Model Validated
The summer program confirmed significant structural offsets and extensive silicification beyond the main Shovelnose structural trend, revealing strong potential for discovering additional epithermal gold systems. This validation of Westhaven's new exploration model represents a breakthrough in understanding the property's geology.
According to company officials, the drilling targeted areas exhibiting elevated pathfinder element geochemistry, clay alteration, and compelling geophysical features. The comprehensive exploration datasets have enabled the development of an advanced exploration model designed to identify fully preserved epithermal gold mineralized systems similar to the South Zone.
Strong Economic Fundamentals and Strategic Advantages
The project's March 2025 Preliminary Economic Assessment outlines robust economics, projecting an 11-year, high-grade underground mining operation with compelling financial returns. The assessment indicates the project could deliver a CAD$454 million after-tax NPV at a 6% discount rate and an impressive 43.2% internal rate of return using US$2,400 per ounce gold price assumptions.
Notably, the payback period is projected at just 2.1 years, highlighting the project's strong economic viability. The Shovelnose property benefits from its strategic location approximately 2.5 hours from Vancouver with direct road and power access, significantly reducing exploration and development costs compared to remote mining projects.
Regional Exploration and Leadership Strengthening
Beyond the immediate Shovelnose property, Westhaven continues to evaluate regional exploration potential along a 100-kilometer strike extent of the Spences Bridge Gold Belt. The summer 2025 program collected over 1,800 stream silt, soil, and bedrock geochemical samples from Westhaven's four SBGB properties.
The company has also strengthened its technical leadership team with several key appointments, including new CEO Ken Armstrong, new CFO Zara Boldt, and new VP Exploration Robin Hopkins. The enhanced team includes dedicated ESG Advisor Allison Rippin Armstrong and technical advisor Fraser MacCorquodale, former General Manager of Global Exploration at Newcrest Mining.
Ken Armstrong, President and CEO of Westhaven, emphasized the program's success, stating that the expanded drilling has demonstrated excellent progress in developing exploration models to guide new gold discoveries at Shovelnose. He confirmed that testing identified structures will remain a primary focus for the 2026 exploration drilling program.
