Wallbridge Provides Update, Evacuation Order at Fenelon Lifted
Wallbridge lifts the Fenelon evacuation and defers Martiniere Phase 2 to focus on the preliminary feasibility study.
Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (WM) announced that the evacuation order issued by the Quebec Interagency Committee on Forest Fire Protection (SOPFEU) for its Fenelon property and the wider Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend on July 1, 2026, has been lifted. No operating facilities or camps were damaged by the wildfires, and SOPFEU firefighting crews have demobilized.
Employees and contractors are returning in phases. Kitchen and maintenance personnel had already returned to the site, and four employees had resumed core logging and sample shipment preparation earlier in August. Wallbridge expects drilling and other field exploration activities to resume by the end of August 2026.
The evacuation shortened the summer exploration season, prompting the company to revise its 2026 priorities:
- Ramp up drilling at Fenelon in preparation for a larger-scale infill program supporting the pre-feasibility study (PFS).
- Complete previously planned exploration drilling at Casault and Grasset.
- Defer the second phase of Martiniere drilling beyond 2026.
The Fenelon pre-feasibility study remains targeted for late 2027 or early 2028, with the work plan and budget currently being finalized. This announcement serves as an operations update and is not an earnings release or financing announcement.
Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (WM) reported that the lifting of the evacuation order is positive as it removes a temporary operational suspension and confirms no wildfire damage to Fenelon infrastructure. However, the more substantive new information is the formal deferral of Martiniere Phase 2 drilling beyond 2026. This changes the previously announced 2026 plan, which had allocated about 17,000 metres to Martiniere in two phases. Phase 1 was completed at 4,108 metres with positive results, but Phase 2 had already been postponed due to the evacuation. Today’s release confirms it will not occur in 2026.
The Martiniere deferral removes a near-term resource-expansion catalyst, though the company frames it as a strategic shift toward advancing the Fenelon PFS. The flagship Fenelon PFS timeline remains unchanged at late 2027 or early 2028, and the company continues to hold substantial cash. Prior-period context — not disclosed in today’s release: Q2 2026 cash was C$74.3 million with no debt. Net effect: expected operational normalization plus an incremental negative change to Martiniere near-term drilling. No new drill results, financing, economics, or PFS timeline change. The release is not market-moving enough to be material.
Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (TSX: WM; OTCQB: WLBMF) is a pre-revenue gold exploration and development company operating in the northern Abitibi region of Quebec. The company holds a contiguous mineral property position totaling approximately 598 km², extending about 82 km along the Detour-Fenelon gold trend.
Its flagship asset is the 100%-owned Fenelon Gold Project, which is currently at the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) stage. A PEA released in March 2025 outlined a 16-year mine life with an average annual production of about 107,000 ounces. The assessment projected initial capital of C$579 million and sustaining capital of C$449 million. At a gold price of US$2,200/oz and an exchange rate of 1.35 CAD/USD, the project showed an after-tax NPV5% of C$706 million, an after-tax IRR of 21%, and a payback period of 4.0 years.
Resource estimates for the Fenelon project include indicated resources of 1,754,000 ounces at 3.62 g/t Au and inferred resources of 1,649,000 ounces at 3.41 g/t Au.
The company also holds the Martiniere Gold Project, which is in an earlier exploration stage. As of March 27, 2025, this project contained indicated resources of 346,000 ounces at 2.29 g/t Au and inferred resources of 387,000 ounces at 3.11 g/t Au.
Regional assets include the Casault property, where Wallbridge has an option to earn a 50% interest with Midland Exploration, and the Grasset property, where the company retains a 2% royalty following a 2022 nickel divestment. Additionally, Wallbridge sold Detour East claims to Agnico Eagle for C$8 million in cash, retaining a 2% NSR royalty.