Westhaven Gold doubles value of Shovelnose property in British Columbia

Staff Writer | March 3, 2025 | 8:02 am Exploration Canada Gold

The Shovelnose gold property in southern British Columbia. Credit: Westhaven Gold

Westhaven Gold (TSXV: WHN) has issued an updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its Shovelnose property that showed an over 100% increase in its net present value, along with marginal improvements to the internal rate of return and payback.

The after-tax NPV, discounted at 6%, is now estimated at C$454 million, more than double the C$222 million from the previous assessment in 2023. The after-tax IRR also increased from 32.3% to 43.2%, while the payback period dropped half a year to 2.1 years. The all-in sustaining cost increased to $836/oz. gold-equivalent from $752/oz., but remains on the low end of the industry AISC curve.

The base case parameters used were $2,400/oz. gold and $28/oz. silver, versus $1,800/oz. gold and $22/oz. silver previously.

The new PEA contains resource contributions from two new zones (Franz and FMN), instead of just the initial South zone discovery. Together, the three zones have a combined gold resource of 677,200 oz. in the indicated category and 270,300 oz. in the inferred category, most of which still come from the South zone.

Based on the updated resource, the PEA outlined an 11-year underground gold mining opportunity with average annual life-of-mine production of 56,000 oz. Initial capital expenditure to fund construction and commissioning is estimated at C$184 million.

Production contribution from both Franz and FMN provide valuable ounces that bring gold production forward in the schedule,” stated Gareth Thomas, CEO of Westhaven Gold. “Our intention is to continue to advance this cornerstone project in parallel with our ongoing exploration efforts to further expand the gold-silver mineral inventory on this highly prospective land package.”

The next steps, according to Thomas, is to to rapidly advance development, include further de-risking initiatives such as continued environmental baseline studies and permitting requirements.

Since its inception in 2011, Westhaven has spent approximately C$55 million and completed 186,000 metres of diamond drilling on this flagship project. The Shovelnose property is located 30 km south of Merritt, British Columbia, covering 416 sq. km of the southern end of the Spences Bridge gold belt.

Westhaven Gold traded flat as of Monday morning, with a market capitalization of approximately C$24.7 million.