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Canada's most recent gold discovery is the opposite of remote
Vancouverites on the first leg of their Okanagan getaway are probably unaware they are passing Canada's newest gold discovery.
After years of exploration work, Westhaven Ventures made a major gold discovery last year in the Spences Bridge Gold Belt, a geological formation 110 km long that intersects the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt. In fact, the Shovelnose property, where the company announced a stunning drill intercept last October, is just 2.5 hour drive from downtown Vancouver. Westhaven's highlight drill-hole was SN18-14: 17.77 metres of 24.50 g/t gold (Au) and 107.92 g/t silver (Ag), including 6.78m of 50.76 g/t Au and 203.54 g/t Ag.
"We are very fortunate to be where we are in terms of infrastructure," said Gareth Thomas, president, CEO and director of Westhaven Ventures (TSX: WHN.V) in an interview with Kitco News in early September. Thomas notes the property is a 30-minute drive from downtown Merritt. The logging road is cleared of snow, and year-round operations are possible.
The leadership team is deep. The company's chairman, Grenville Thomas, has worked in the mining sector for 50 years. He was awarded prospector of the year in 1999 by the PDAC and was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2009. Westhaven's exploration manager, Peter Fischl, joined the the team after having spent the preceding 12 years discovering gold at Kinross's high-grade Kupol Mine. The mine is located in Russia's far east. In the first six years of the mine's operations, Kupol produced 3.7 million ounces of gold and 41.9 million ounces of silver.
Westhaven has a large land position at Spences Bridge Gold Belt, with over 35,000 hectares across four prospects: Skoona North, Skoona, Prospect Valley and Shovelnose Discovery.
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