West Red Lake Gold Mines is evaluating the potential to have two mines in the Red Lake district of northwestern Ontario.
The Vancouver gold company released a promising preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on its Rowan project, 16 kilometres northwest of the town of Red Lake and 80 kilometres northwest of its Madsen Mine, which resumed commercial production in May.
The 3,100-hectare property contains three former gold mines: Rowan, Mount Jamie and Red Summit.
The company views Rowan as a high-grade underground mine, delivering more than 35,000 ounces of gold over a forecasted five-year mine life, at an average head grade of 8.0 grams per tonne. It has a near vertical deposit that starts near the surface. The company sees opportunity to discover additional mineralization on the property.
The all-in-sustaining cost — the total cost to keep a mine operational — is US$1,408 per ounce. The internal rate of return, after taxes, could rise from 42 per cent to 82 per cent with higher gold prices. The initial capital cost for a mine is slightly more than $70 million.
“Rowan is a high-grade, relatively wide, nearly vertical deposit that starts at surface and this PEA captures how such designed-for-mining characteristics lead to strong economics,” said president-CEO Shane Williams in a statement.
A more detailed prefeasibility study comes out in the third quarter of 2026.
