Westhaven Provides an Exploration Update at Its Shovelnose Gold Property

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Westhaven Gold Corp. (TSX-V:WHN) is pleased to provide an exploration update at its 41,623-hectare Shovelnose gold property, situated within the prospective Spences Bridge Gold Belt (SBGB), 30 kilometres south of Merritt, British Columbia.

The summer/fall phase of the 2024 drill campaign has now commenced and is focused on seven new, high-priority features. 4,000 metres of diamond drilling will test targets at Line 6 North, Line 6-MIK, CSAMT-3, Romeo and three different sites at Certes (each ~1km apart).

Gareth Thomas, President & CEO, states, “Our “boots on ground” exploration approach this summer has identified what we feel could be the southeastern extent of Vein Zone One some 6 kilometres away from the South Zone. The discovery of banded mercury-bearing high level epithermal quartz makes us believe we are at the top of a completely preserved epithermal system at Certes. We look forward to drilling Certes and other high-priority targets in the coming weeks.”

Prospecting, mapping and sampling programs conducted in 2023 and 2024, in combination with an ongoing review of geological, geochemical and geophysical data, have highlighted additional exciting prospective targets across the Shovelnose property. The majority of these targets are situated within the ‘Shovelnose Corridor’, a prominent trend of multielement pathfinder anomalies that extends for over 11km across the property and trends into the newly acquired claims to the southeast (see press release dated August 22nd, 2024). High-level quartz veins and anomalous antimony-mercury values suggest that less erosion has occurred in the southeast extent of the corridor, meaning that more of the epithermal system would be preserved, raising the potential for additional discoveries.

Drill Targets

• Line 6 North – testing contacts of a potential rhyolite dome and related structural elements that may be the source for broad lower grade gold mineralization intercepted in past drilling (e.g. SN20-76 – 20.8m of 0.51 g/t Au).
• Line 6/Mik – testing a linear 500m long gold in soil anomaly coincident with geophysically inferred structures parallel to, and ~600m southwest of, those hosting Franz-FMN-South Zone mineralization.
• CSAMT3 – follow-up to hole SN24-412 (results reported herein) that intersected molybdenum rich silica healed breccias (149.7-155.32m and 194.68-196.92m), a zone of massive to weakly banded quartz+/- calcite veinlets (203-258m) and a second deeper zone of trace quartz+/- calcite veinlets (302.1-311.1m). The molybdenum bearing breccias suggest a late stage magmatic contribution that, in other low sulphidation epithermal systems, commonly implies proximity to high grade gold-silver mineralization.
• Romeo – testing a pathfinder element halo identified from geochemical sampling of exposed bedrock within an extensive mapped zone of hydrothermal brecciation supported by intersecting structures evident in the detailed geophysical coverage.
• Certes Trend –Certes is a 3km long concentration of strongly anomalous pathfinder elements in rock and soil samples situated some 8km east-southeast of the Franz-FMN-South Zone along the same geophysical/geochemical corridor. Extent of the Certes Trend is limited by the previous property boundary. Westhaven has acquired additional claims to the east (see press release dated August 22^nd, 2024) and will be conducting prospecting and sampling work on that new ground this season. Banded and laminated mercury-bearing chalcedony cobbles and boulders found at surface amongst andesite subcrop at the northwestern end of the current Certes Trend are indicative of near surface low sulphidation epithermal deposits, suggesting preservation of an entire system in the Certes area beneath an andesite cap. Drilling to identify and evaluate potential controlling structures will test three areas along the Certes Trend, each spaced about 1km apart.
  • Certes 1 - testing the northwestern end near the most extensive banded quartz occurrences, where bedrock pathfinder geochemical anomalies are dominated by a mercury signature and a detailed ground magnetic survey was recently completed
  • Certes 2 – testing the central part of the Certes Trend where antimony becomes the dominant pathfinder, and prominent cross structures interrupt the aeromagnetic data
  • Certes 3 – testing the southeastern part of the currently recognized known trend where both mercury and antimony anomalies are supported by other pathfinder elements and favourable surface geology

Westhaven is reporting assays for 10 holes as part of the ongoing, multi-phase drill campaign at the Shovelnose gold property. The spring phase of the drill program was announced in late March and completed in late June. Utilizing the information generated from this drilling, in conjunction with the ongoing exploration work, the summer/fall phase of the 2024 drilling campaign has commenced. Given the property location and access, Westhaven can drill year-round at the Shovelnose.