Westhaven Gold (TSXV: WHN; US-OTC: WTHVF) cut a highlight result of 8 metres grading about 48 grams gold and 229 grams silver per tonne at its Shovelnose project in British Columbia as the company advances toward a prefeasibility study at the South Zone deposit. The stock surged.
The standout interval, starting at 179 metres depth, came from hole SNR26-73, which also cut 33 metres grading 14 grams gold and 78 grams silver from 163 metres downhole, Westhaven said Tuesday. Hole SNR26-74, meanwhile, cut about 25 metres grading 9.51 grams gold and 44 grams silver from about 159 metres depth.
Vancouver-based Westhaven is about one-third of the way through a 35,000-metre drilling program this year that aims to update the resource for South Zone and incorporate it into a prefeasibility study expected in 2027. Shovelnose is the most advanced of the four projects -- covering a combined 603 sq. km -- that the company wants to develop in B.C.’s Spences Bridge gold belt.
The results come about a year after Westhaven released an updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Shovelnose showing the underground project’s high value. That report helped draw the attention of Dundee (TSX: DC.A), which invested $85 million (US$62 million) in the explorer in exchange for an interest of up to 60% in Westhaven’s projects.
Westhaven shares jumped 10% to 32.5¢ Tuesday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at about $85 million. The stock has traded between 12¢ and 35¢ in the past year.
Other notable intercepts included hole SNR26-75, which cut 17 metres grading 10.08 grams gold and 82 grams silver from 141 metres downhole, and hole SNR26-76, which cut about 12 metres grading 15.63 grams gold and 104 grams silver from 141 metres depth.
“Early results from resource infill drilling at the South Zone deposit continue to meet expectations,” CEO Ken Armstrong said in a statement.
Located about 230 km northeast of Vancouver, Shovelnose hosts several shallow epithermal gold-silver discoveries. These include South Zone, FMN and Franz.
Shovelnose holds 3.44 million indicated tonnes grading 6.1 grams gold and 32 grams silver for contained metal of 677,000 oz. gold and 3.56 million oz. silver, according to a February 2025 resource. Inferred resources were pegged at 2.29 million tonnes grading 3.6 grams gold and 25 grams silver for contained metal of 270,000 oz. gold and 1.86 million oz. silver.
The 2025 PEA envisions an 11-year underground mine with average annual production of 56,000 oz. gold and 313,000 oz. silver. Shovelnose has a $454 million after-tax net present value (NPV) and 43% internal rate of return (IRR) based on a 6% discount rate and an average gold price of US$2,400 per ounce.
If US$4,000 gold is used as an assumption, the NPV jumps to $1 billion and the IRR to 88%.
Besides Dundee, key investors in the company include Sprott Asset Management founder Eric Sprott, Franco-Nevada (TSX, NYSE: FNV), McEwen (NYSE, TSX: MUX) founder Rob McEwen and EarthLabs, The Northern Miner’s parent company.
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