West Red Lake Gold Advances Hub & Spoke Madsen Strategy with 1.5 meters @ 16.16 g/t gold assay from Starratt-Olsen Mine
West Red Lake confirms residual high-grade at Starratt-Olsen while leaving the deep shoot untested in its first modern assay results.
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (WRLG) released sponsored content on September 16, 2026, recapping a drill program announcement made on September 10, 2026, for the Starratt-Olsen Mine. Located approximately 1.1 km southwest of the Madsen Mine in Red Lake, Ontario, the Starratt-Olsen is a past-producing gold mine that yielded about 163,990 oz of gold from 1948 to 1956 at an average grade of 6.17 g/t Au. The current work marks the first focused modern drilling in the main historic mining areas since the 1950s, consisting of a 12-hole, 4,100 m oriented HQ diamond surface program.
The September 10 release detailed the first five holes of this program. Headline intercepts included WRL26-055, which returned 4.5 m @ 5.16 g/t Au from 114.0 m to 118.5 m, including 1.5 m @ 10.94 g/t Au, and WRL26-054, which reported 1.5 m @ 16.16 g/t Au from 121.15 m to 122.65 m, including 0.85 m @ 24.60 g/t Au. Other results from the same release included WRL26-051 with 0.8 m @ 0.71 g/t Au, and WRL26-052 with 1.0 m @ 0.78 g/t Au and 2.05 m @ 1.05 g/t Au. Hole WRL26-053 returned no significant assays above 0.5 g/t Au.
The company also highlighted a deeper historical target, referencing a 2016-era hole that reported 2 m @ 27.3 g/t Au and 3 m @ 104.1 g/t Au with visible gold at roughly 560 m depth. Management stated the team is evaluating access from the Madsen 16 Level exploration drive, which is situated within about 200 m of the main down-plunge target. The September 16 release did not introduce new assays but served to re-present the results from the September 10 announcement.
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (WRLG) has transitioned from a pre-resource explorer to a producing gold company, achieving commercial production at its Madsen project on January 1, 2026. The company reported production of 8,576 oz in the second quarter of 2026. The equity is valued at approximately C$323 million, supported by Madsen resources of about 1.65 moz indicated and 0.37 moz inferred, alongside a 478 koz probable reserve and the Rowan satellite resource.
Starratt remains an early-stage satellite exploration target with no current resource. The reported drill intercepts do not alter Madsen reserves, near-term mine life, guidance, or the upcoming Madsen-Rowan prefeasibility study. The results do not represent a negative miss against priced expectations, as Starratt has not been the primary market narrative; the stock has declined from its Q1 high despite earlier high-grade results at Madsen. Conversely, the findings are not considered a material positive, as the gram-metres are modest, true widths are narrow, continuity is unproven, and the deeper high-grade target remains undrilled. For a producer, a small initial satellite drill result of this nature is ordinarily non-material news flow.
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. is a Canada-based gold producer operating in the Red Lake district of Ontario. Its flagship asset is the 100%-owned Madsen Mine, which entered commercial production on January 1, 2026. The Madsen mill is fully permitted and is currently processing approximately 800 tonnes per day, with plans to increase capacity to about 1,000 tonnes per day in the second half of 2026. Shaft refurbishment is being conducted in phases: Phase 1 supports about 200 tonnes per day, Phase 2 targets 700 tonnes per day, and Phase 3 targets 2,000 tonnes per day.
The company’s resource base includes significant deposits at Madsen and Rowan. Key figures include:
- Madsen indicated: 1.65 moz @ 7.4 g/t Au.
- Madsen inferred: 0.37 moz @ 6.3 g/t Au.
- Madsen probable reserves: 478 koz @ 8.16 g/t Au.
- Rowan indicated: 798,989 t @ 13.04 g/t Au for 335,058 oz.
- Rowan inferred: 363,602 t @ 15.31 g/t Au for 179,029 oz.
Additional assets include Mount Jamie, Fork, Wedge, Starratt-Olsen, Red Summit, and other regional targets. For 2026, the company has issued production guidance of 35,000–45,000 oz of gold.
Financial highlights for the second quarter of 2026 show revenue of C$49.0 million, gross profit of C$20.1 million, and operating income of C$15.0 million. The company held C$31.2 million in cash. Total debt on the balance sheet was C$93.2 million at June 30, 2026, with the MD&A citing net debt of about C$74.6 million.