On May 12, Westhaven Gold Corp. (TSXV: WHN) announced constructive assay results from its ongoing drilling program at the FMN Zone of its Shovelnose gold property in southern British Columbia. Drills intersected 9.15 grams of gold and 27.43 grams of silver per tonne (g/t of Au and Ag) over a 15.97-meter span, and 2.73 g/t of Au and 15.78 g/t of Ag over a much longer 79-meter length.
A more complete highlight list of recent drilling results is shown below.
The 17,623-hectare Shovelnose property is located near the southern end of the Spences Bridge Gold Belt (SBGB) and is 30 kilometers (km) south of Merritt, British Columbia. Westhaven owns 100% of the property, but it is subject to a 2% Net Smelter Return (NSR).
The SBGB is a 110-km northwest-trending belt of felsic volcanic rocks; such formations frequently are characterized by epithermal-style gold mineralization. Epithermal deposits typically form close to the surface of the earth and are therefore more economic to mine.
Westhaven completed 43,000+ meters of diamond drilling at Shovelnose in 2020 and discovered the Franz and FMN Zones on the property. Key assay results of this program are noted in the lower right portion of the below figure.
In February 2021, the company resumed a diamond drilling program at Shovelnose, which will target the FMN, Franz and South Zones. About 40,000 meters of cumulative drilling is projected to be completed this year.
Westhaven’s Financials
Westhaven’s cash balance was only approximately $130,000 at year-end; however, the company replenished its cash by raising $15 million in a bought deal offering in early March 2021. A pre-revenue company, Westhaven controlled its costs reasonably well in 2020. Its operating cash shortfall averaged about $340,000 per quarter last year.
| (in thousands of Canadian dollars, except for shares outstanding) | 4Q 2020 | 3Q 2020 | 2Q 2020 | 1Q 2020 | 4Q 2019 |
| Operating Income | ($338) | ($353) | ($294) | ($384) | ($946) |
| Operating Cash Flow | ($264) | ($738) | $35 | ($395) | ($614) |
| Cash | $132 | $3,585 | $5,641 | $2,818 | $4,327 |
| Debt – Period End | $150 | $170 | $211 | $77 | $84 |
| Shares Outstanding (Millions) | 104.8 | 102.6 | 102.4 | 96.9 | 96.9 |
The company has released constructive assay results from its Shovelnose drilling programs in 2020 and thus far in 2021. If future drilling results were to prove less positive, Westhaven shares could suffer. In addition, if investors were to begin to expect an ebbing in inflationary pressures in the future, precious metals commodity prices could reverse lower, likely negatively impacting the stocks of gold miners.
Westhaven has made promising discoveries in the SBGB in British Columbia and released impressive drilling results in 2020 and 2021. If the company’s ongoing drilling program at its flagship Shovelnose gold property continues to yield positive results, Westhaven’s shares could add to its solid performance over the past month or so.
Westhaven Gold Corp. last traded at $0.64 on the TSX Venture Exchange.
Information for this briefing was found via Sedar and the companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
