Vancouver, BC – TheNewswire- January 30, 2023 – Westward Gold Inc. (CSE: WG) (OTC:WGLIF) (FSW:IM50) (“To the west” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the final anniversary payment to First Mining Gold Corp. (“First Mining”) pursuant to the Option Agreement (the “Agreement”) completed by Momentum Minerals Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Westward, and First Mining. As a result, the Company has exercised its option to acquire a 100% interest in the Turquoise Canyon project in Lander County, Nevada (“Turquoise Canyon”), based on the agreement dated August 20, 2019, as amended on August 19, 2020.
Under the terms of the agreement, Westward has elected to pay First Mining C$137,500 in shares based on the 30-day volume weighted average price on the Canadian Stock Exchange as of the close on January 25, 2023. The Company has issued a total of 1,701,732 shares an assumed price of $0.0808 per share; Upon issuance, First Mining will own 4,457,565 shares of Westward, representing approximately 5.6% of the Company’s total issued and outstanding shares.
Ownership of the 188 unpatented mining claims that make up Turquoise Canyon will be vested in Turquoise Canyon Corp. transferred, a wholly owned Westward subsidiary located in Nevada. First Mining will retain a 2.0% Net Smelter Return Royalty, which may be reduced to 1.0% by a cash payment of C$1,000,000 at any time prior to the first anniversary of commercial production (as defined in the Agreement).
Figure 1: Westward’s Cortez Trend Land Package
Click on the image to view it in full size
Turquoise Canyon represents approximately 41% of the total consolidated land position the Company has built along the Cortez trend through a combination of corporate transactions and staking. Westward also recently acquired 100% interest in 111 unpatented mining claims on the Carlin Trend to strengthen its exploration portfolio in Nevada (see news releases dated October 11, 2022 and January 18, 2023).
Colin Moore, Westward’s President and CEO, commented, “We are pleased to have early exercised our option on Turquoise Canyon; this is a significant milestone for our growing company. We would like to thank First Mining for being a valued partner over the past few years and look forward to having them as one of our largest shareholders going forward.”
Dave Browning, Vice President of Exploration, added, “Turquoise Canyon represents a tremendous opportunity for us as evidenced by the extensive work completed to date including soil sampling, gravity surveys, induced polarization, airborne hyperspectral surveys and detailed geological mapping. In addition, the 2022 field season highlighted trends at Toiyabe that are indicative of mineralization vectors towards Turquoise Canyon, making it a highly prospective, target-rich environment. With no historical drill holes on the property, we look forward to advancing the project towards its first-ever drilling campaign.”
Qualified Person
The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Steven R. Koehler, the Company’s Technical Advisor, who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Disclosure Standards for Mineral Projects. Mr. Koehler is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG) through the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG).
About Westward Gold
Westward Gold is a mineral exploration company focused on developing the Toiyabe, Turquoise Canyon and East Saddle projects in the Cortez Hills area of Lander County, Nevada and the Coyote and Rossi projects along the Carlin Trend in Elko County, Nevada. From time to time, the Company may also evaluate the acquisition of other mineral exploration assets and opportunities.
For more information contact:
Colin Moore
President, CEO & Director
Westward Gold Inc.
[email protected]
www.westwardgold.com
The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The Canadian Securities Exchange accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
This press release contains or refers to “forward-looking statements” and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address events, results, results or developments that the Company expects are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally, but not always, identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “potential,” “on track.” , “forecast”, “budget”, “goal”, “outlook”, “continue”, “plan” or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could” , “would”, “could” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved or the negative connotation of such terms.
Such statements include, but are not limited to, information about strategy, plans, or future financial or operational performance, such as the Company’s expansion plans, project schedules, anticipated drill targets and other statements that express management’s expectations or estimates of future plans and performance .
Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, the need for additional capital by the businesses through funding and the risk of not being able to obtain such funding; the speculative nature of the exploration and stages of the Company’s properties; the effect of changes in commodity prices; regulatory risks that development of the Company’s significant properties will not be acceptable for social, environmental or other reasons, availability of equipment (including drills) and personnel to carry out work programs, that each phase of work will be completed within the expected time frame, that current geological Models and interpretations are proving correct, the results of ongoing work programs may result in changes in exploration priorities and in the efforts and skills of the senior management team. This list is not intended to be exhaustive of the factors that may affect the Company’s forward-looking statements or information. These and other factors may cause the Company to alter its exploration and work programs, discontinue work programs, or change the schedule or sequencing of planned work programs. Additional risk factors and details of risk factors that could affect the Company’s ability to meet the expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are set forth in the Company’s most recent management discussion and analysis under “Risks and Uncertainties.” , which is available under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. The Company’s forward-looking statements and information are based on management’s assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions as of the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements and information if circumstances or assumptions change , beliefs, expectations or opinions of management should change, or changes in other events affecting these statements or information.