West Red Lake Gold Intercepts 84.3 g/t Au over 1m, 14.4 g/t Au over 5.5m and 24.4 g/t Au over 1.5m at Rowan
Red Lake’s New Hub: Madsen Achieves Commercial Status While Rowan Satellite Deposits Deliver Jewelry-Box Grades
The news release dated February 18, 2026, reports high-grade gold intercepts from an infill and conversion drilling program at the Rowan Project in Ontario, Canada. High-grade results include 84.3 g/t Au over 1.0m, 14.42 g/t Au over 5.5m, and 24.44 g/t Au over 1.5m. The program consisted of 6,300 meters of HQ diamond drilling. These results are intended to support an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) planned for Q2 2026 and a combined Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) that integrates the Rowan Project with the recently restarted Madsen Mine. The company aims to transition into a 100,000 ounce per year gold producer by 2028 using a "hub-and-spoke" model where Rowan serves as a high-grade satellite feed for the Madsen mill.
This news has a material positive impact as it reinforces the viability of the company’s expansion strategy. - Satellite Deposit Validation: The intercepts confirm the high-grade continuity of Rowan’s vein systems (Veins 001, 004, 006b, and 013). This is critical for the "hub-and-spoke" model, which relies on high-grade material to lower the blended unit costs at the Madsen processing facility. - Resource Conversion: The results support the conversion of Inferred resources to Indicated categories, a necessary step for the upcoming combined PFS and eventual reserve declaration. - Operational De-risking: Coming shortly after the declaration of commercial production at the flagship Madsen Mine (January 1, 2026), these results demonstrate that management is effectively moving toward its medium-term production targets (100k oz/year) rather than just maintaining the current steady state.
West Red Lake Gold Mines is a Canadian producer focused on the Red Lake Gold District. Its flagship is the Madsen Mine, acquired in mid-2023 from the bankruptcy of PureGold Mining. The company has spent two years re-engineering the mine, completing a connection drift, and upgrading the mill. - Flagship: Madsen Mine (1.65M oz Au Indicated @ 7.4 g/t). - Satellite: Rowan Project (100% owned, ~315k oz Au combined across categories at high grades). - Infrastructure: Fully permitted 800 tpd mill (expandable to 1,000+ tpd), tailings facility, and 1.2km connection drift.