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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd.(“West Red Lake Gold” or “WRLG” or the “Company”) (TSXV: WRLG)(OTCQB: WRLGF) announces an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) effective as of March 1, 2024, on its 100% owned Rowan Mine Deposit, located in the Red Lake Gold District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada.

• Indicated resources of 476,323 tonnes grading 12.78 grams per tonne (“g/t“) gold (“Au“), for a total of 195,746 ounces (“oz“) Au.

• Inferred resources of 410,794 tonnes grading 8.76 g/t Au, for a total of 115,719 oz Au.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The 2024 MRE has added a significant portion of higher confidence Indicated ounces at grades 40% higher than the 2022 MRE.
• Relative to the 2022 Rowan MRE, there was a decrease in the Inferred mineral resources from approximately 827,000 ounces to 116,000 ounces and an increase in Indicated mineral resources from zero to approximately 196,000 ounces. The drop in Inferred metal content is mainly attributed to 1) conversion of Inferred to Indicated resources, 2) a more rigorous modeling approach, and 3) more stringent resource estimation parameters implemented to account for the high gold grades typically seen at Rowan.
• The integration of oriented drilling data and top-to-bottom geochemical analysis allowed the team to reconstruct the geologic interpretation at Rowan resulting in a much more tightly constrained, higher-grade resource that should lend itself more effectively to any future reserve calculation and underground mining design.
• A $4.5M drill program is planned and fully funded for up to 15,000m of drilling at Rowan in 2024, focused on growth and resource expansion on the main Rowan Mine deposit.

Shane Williams, President & CEO, stated, “The 2024 Rowan MRE model represents a complete reinterpretation of the structural controls on mineralization and reflects a more conservative estimation approach in-line with industry best practices. When drilling off structurally complex high-grade gold systems that contain significant amounts of coarse gold it is essential to have a solid understanding of the geology and controls on mineralization early in the process. We are very encouraged to see a significant portion of higher confidence Indicated resources come from this MRE update – and at grades 40% higher than the 2022 MRE. The objective for this year at Rowan will be growth, and we continue to see significant potential for expanding this deposit at depth and along strike.”

ROWAN 2024 MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE:

• The 2024 MRE update for Rowan incorporated an additional 62 holes for 20,211.4m of oriented NQ diamond drill core since the December 2022 MRE.
• A total of twenty-six (26) mineral domains were created to constrain the mineralization.
• For more detailed information on the Rowan 2024 MRE model please refer to the Technical Report entitled “Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Rowan Property, Ontario, Canada” dated April 26, 2024 and filed contemporaneously with this press release on April 26, 2024, prepared for WRLG by Sims Resources, LLC (the “Technical Report”), copies of which can be found on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

TABLE 1. Summary of the Rowan 2024 Mineral Resources as of April 26, 2024

Notes:
1)   CIM (2014) definitions were followed for Mineral Resources.
2)   Mineral Resources were estimated at a gold cut-off grade of 3.80 g/t using a long-term gold price of $1,800 USD per ounce.
3)   Density used for the estimation on all domains was set at 2.8 g/cm³.
4)   There are no Mineral Reserves currently estimated at the Rowan Project.
5)   Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
6)   Mineral Resources are reported within vein wireframes at the stated cut-off grade of 3.80 g/t Au.
7)   The effective date of the Mineral Resources is March 1, 2024.

FIGURE 1. Plan view image comparing the 2022 MRE domains to 2024 MRE domains.

DISCUSSION

The Rowan Vein System has been the focus of most of the exploration on the Property since the initial discovery of four sub-parallel narrow veins on surface at “Discovery Hill”. Since then, these veins have been drifted upon from underground on three levels and extensively drilled, including 62 drill holes for 20,211.4m in 2023. The drilling completed at the Rowan Mine deposit in 2023 focused on validating historical data across the Inferred Resource, and also infilling apparent gaps in the analytical data set which was a product of very selective sampling techniques implemented during previous drilling campaigns.
   
The overall deposit consists of numerous, narrow, high-grade quartz veins that define an east-northeast trending corridor, approximately 150 m wide. This corridor mainly transects the lower mafic to intermediate metavolcanic units of the Ball assemblage in the hinge of the property scale antiform and appears to dissipate once it intersects the unconformity with the metasedimentary Slate Bay assemblage to the east (Figure 2).

The best gold grades often occur when coarse and visible native gold is present. This occurs within distinct 10 cm to 30 cm up to a metre of bluish to grey, glassy quartz veins/stringer zones. Rarely do these individual veins exceed 60 cm wide with alteration halos tending to be localized. Broad zones of diffuse silicification have generally not been found. Trace to 1% pyrite and pyrrhotite is common within these veins/stringers. Less common but a better positive indicator of gold grade is the occurrence of sphalerite, galena, arsenopyrite, and chalcopyrite. Generally total sulphides make up less than 2%. Metallurgical tests indicate favourable recovery characteristics.

The previous interpretation of the Rowan Vein System (Kita, 2022) was that the veins were emplaced after D2 and were essentially undeformed and highly continuous over hundreds of meters. Such an interpretation was supported by the consistency of multiple narrow vein occurrences in drillholes spanning long strike lengths. With t…

Insight on the Rowan Mineral Resource Estimate

– The Rowan Mine Deposit in the Red Lake Gold District of Northwestern Ontario has seen significant improvements in its Mineral Resource Estimate in 2024 compared to previous estimates.
– The 2024 MRE update incorporated a more robust modeling approach and stringent estimation parameters, resulting in higher-grade resources.
– Oriented drilling data and detailed geochemical analysis have contributed to a more refined understanding of the geology at Rowan, enhancing future resource calculations and mine design.
– The upcoming drill program in 2024 is set to focus on growth and resource expansion, targeting the main Rowan Mine deposit.

Discussion of the Rowan Vein System

– The Rowan Vein System, characterized by narrow high-grade quartz veins, is a key exploration target at the Property.
– The latest interpretation of the Rowan Vein System highlights the complex structural controls and deformation patterns, necessitating advanced modeling techniques.
– The use of implicit modeling methods like Leapfrog has revealed more realistic representations of the vein system, aligning with structural observations in the deposit and at the core scale.
– This updated model enhances the understanding of the vein system’s structural setting and its similarity to other deposits in the region like the Madsen and Red Lake mines.