Wesdome Gold Mine expects to “remain aggressive on the exploration front” this year with $13.1 million budgeted for drill programs at its mine and exploration properties in Ontario and Quebec.
Of particularly interest is its Moss Lake gold property at Shebandowan, 100 kilometres west of Thunder Bay.
The company is spending $5 million to do a 40,000-metre drill program on a greenstone belt which hosts a large tonnage-low grade deposit.
In a Jan. 17 release, the company said it’s “conducting a full-year drilling program at Moss Lake in order to evaluate our new land position with the goal of generating additional resources."
The deposit hosts an indicated resource of 40 million tonnes at 1.1 grams per tonne (g/t) and additional an inferred resource of 50 million tonnes at 1.1 g/t.
“Given favourable economic conditions,” Wesdome thinks it could be an open-pit operation that might “quadruple” the company’s gold production.
The Toronto-based gold miner recently released its fourth quarter, 2016 production results and 2017 guidance.
During the fourth quarter, the combined production at its Eagle River Complex, west of Wawa, was 11,887 ounces, which contributed to a yearly production total of 47,737 ounces.
Heading into 2017, gold production from the Eagle River Underground Mine and the Mishi Open Pit Mine is pegged between 52,000 and 58,000 ounces.
At the Eagle River Complex, drilling will continue on surface and underground within the Eagle River Mine and along the Mishi Open Pit mineralized trend.
"At Mishi, we will be conducting scoping studies to determine if an expansion scenario will enhance profitability and maximize shareholder value," said a company release.
A gold reserve and resource report on both the underground mine and the open pit is coming out during the first quarter to “determine the appropriate open pit scenario."
Wesdome president-CEO Duncan Middlemiss was pleased with their annual results, especially the strong second half of 2016 with 27,553 ounces produced.
Middlemiss said “operations are in good shape to get off to a strong start in 2017."
The company expects to make $3 million in upgrades at Eagle River on an underground ventilation raise and improvements to the Mishi haul road.
