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Westhaven Gold (TSX-V: WHN)(OTC: WTHVF) CEO Gareth Thomas on Drilling Long Intercepts of High-Grade Gold-Silver Mineralization at Flagship Shovelnose Project, British Columbia, Canada
Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the president & CEO of Westhaven Gold — Mr. Gareth Thomas. Gareth… live from the field… and by the field, I mean, where are you at Gareth?
Gareth Thomas: I'm just driving in a car currently, but yeah, thanks for having me as always.
Gerardo Del Real: There you go. Listen, we know the summer doldrums are here. It always presents pretty compelling opportunities in the space, especially if you believe, like I do, that the second half of this year, especially towards the latter part of it, we'll see much higher gold prices on the way to new all-time highs.
I say all that to say that companies that continue to add value, especially via the drill bit, I think, are going to see disproportionate gains when the re-rating happens here in the second half of the year. And again, you just had more news here this week that speaks to that.
You just drilled 76.98 meters of 1.51 g/t gold and 8.47 g/t silver. That included an intercept of 15.56 meters of 4.52 g/t gold and 25.99 g/t silver, two meters of 39.67 g/t gold and 30.38 g/t silver at the Shovelnose Gold property. I'd love for you to provide the context there, Gareth.
Gareth Thomas: Yeah, we're continuing to grow this. And I think that's the key takeaway from that news release is — as we move from the FMN down to the southeast towards where we're drilling at the Alpine where, as we tighten up the drill space, and as we've talked about before — we're getting continuous good gold grades here.
So that's really the message and our plan moving forward here, especially, as you mentioned there, speaking about the markets… it’s sometimes a bit disappointing when you put out such good results and there isn't a big uptick or a lot of optimism. But like you said, I think things are going to change… it seems like they always do.
But yeah, and in fact also very importantly, I think, from our last press release, I think people were a bit disappointed in the lack of gold at the Alpine. And I think we've proved there that there's more gold there as we move to the northwest towards the FMN. So that 40 meters of gram-plus there is great as well — and that's looking better as we move along.
You're not going to hit on every single hole as we try to figure out these veins and where they're going. But as we tighten up the drill spacing, as mentioned, we seem to be having some pretty good luck. So that's the plan here, as you mentioned; a drill bit story, and just keep adding ounces here. And I think we're at a very, very appetizing price right now, as you mentioned there, with some of these stocks that are moving with the drill bit. And that's where we're at.
Gerardo Del Real: I absolutely agree. It's pretty clear to me now that, at the FMN Zone, at the very least, that you're seeing two types of gold mineralization, right? You mentioned the high-grade that everybody always wants but not every drill hole is going to hit. But more importantly, when the high-grade isn't there to the level that the perfect world scenario people would want it to be there — you're hitting that bulk tonnage style.
And that's going to be very important moving down the line as we envision this being a mine one day, and you look for that continuity when you're mining these types of deposits. Can you speak to the importance of that bulk tonnage style that complements the high-grade?
Gareth Thomas: Yeah, and back to the high-grade there, I mean, it's our true belief we're going to hit more of those 860 gram meter intercepts as our big news release in April there. Obviously, the average investor is going, ‘Well, are they going to hit another one… are they going to hit another one?’ Well, we truly believe we will. But we'll also take 77 meters of gram-and-a-half here, as you mentioned, to the bulks.
And it's very near surface as well here. We're talking just over 20 meters here from surface, which bodes well for that sort of open pit scenario, as you mentioned. And it certainly complements the South Zone. So, I mean, we're very happy to continue hitting these.
And then, you know what… as we tighten the drill space and, as mentioned, we're going to hit more of those higher-grade shoots; we're pretty certain of that. It's just the type of system that it's in. It's a strong system, and we're not always going to put out those zingers. But I think there will be more and more in between. And we're very happy where we sit right now.
Gerardo Del Real: You currently have over a million gold equivalent ounces. It's clear that this resource is going to get bigger. What comes next in the second half of the year, Gareth? Obviously, assays are pending and you're busy, busy, busy despite what most people describe as the summer doldrums here with the month of June coming to an end and July fast approaching.
Gareth Thomas: Yeah, we're going to keep drilling, as mentioned, at the Alpine and try and close that gap between the FMN and the Alpine. We actually got a drill, the FMN drill. We did some geophysics. I think I mentioned in our last conversation, just to the northwest of the FMN, towards the Franz, where we have about a 500-meter gap there that's never been drill-tested. So we're testing some geophysical targets there as we speak.
And then, we're testing a few things on the periphery that we like. But the main focus here will be on that very little drilling done… well, we have done some drilling… but what we know now with the vein Zones 1 and 2 — between the Alpine and the FMN — we certainly need to tighten the drill density in there.
So that's more or less the plan. Then, we'll sort of play it by ear in terms of the market and whether we add another rig. I guess that's the question, Gerardo. In this market, your costs and your value add… what are you getting here? And of course, we're obviously going to keep on drilling.
We're looking for 40,000 meters this year. We're well on our way to that. And then, we'll, potentially, as mentioned in the news release, look for, potentially, an updated resource — including the underground component at South Zone — potentially by Q1 of next year. So that's the plan moving forward here.
Gerardo Del Real: A lot to like in the second half of the year. There's been a lot to like, frankly, in the first half of the year. Thank you so much, Gareth, for the update.
Gareth Thomas: Thank you as always, Gerardo. Appreciate it.
Gerardo Del Real: Alright, chat soon.