Wesdome eyes low-cost gold boost at Quebec’s Kiena

Wesdome Gold Mines’ (TSX: WDO; US-OTC: WDOFF) Kiena mine in Val-d’Or, Que., could increase production by 10% to 15% without major new capital spending, while an aggressive drilling program is revealing a potentially much larger mineralized system, the CEO says.

The potential increase would come from productivity improvements, additional mining fronts and technical optimization at the underground mine, which Wesdome returned to commercial production in 2022.

“We now know that Kiena is not merely a small cigar,” Wesdome CEO Anthea Bath told The Northern Miner in a video interview in late August. “We know that Kiena is a cigar box, and we don’t know how many boxes. We know it’s significant.”

The plan would add a new chapter to Kiena’s four-decade, stop-start history as one of Val-d’Or’s major mines and reinforce its standing among the camp’s highest-grade producers.

Room to grow

Kiena may produce 75,000 to 90,000 oz. of gold this year at a grade of 8 to 9.5 grams gold per tonne, according to company guidance. The mine holds proven and probable reserves of 2.6 million tonnes grading 8.7 grams gold for 711,000 oz., as of Dec. 31, 2025.

Most of the hardware and tunnelling needed to support the potential increase is already in place at Kiena. New investments would target operational improvements rather than new infrastructure, Bath said. A new ramp opened in May has improved ore movement underground, while additional mining fronts have given the operation greater flexibility.

“There’s no investment really, because that’s already invested in the mine itself,” Bath said. “It’s really around execution effectiveness, leveraging the current infrastructure and capital that already exists.”

The Presqu’île zone is already adding ore as Wesdome works to increase Kiena’s mill throughput. The company blasted its first production stope there in July and expects the zone to deliver 250 to 400 tonnes per day once fully ramped up.

The additional Presqu’île ore would help Wesdome advance its goal of using at least 80% of Kiena’s 2,040-tonne-per-day mill capacity under its “Fill-the-Mill” strategy. Other potential sources include Kiena Deep, the Northwest zone and several parallel zones near existing underground infrastructure.

Drilling push

The company plans 125,000 metres of drilling this year at Kiena to replace mined reserves and explore other growth areas. The program follows a property-wide review that identified about 100 drill targets, ranked partly by their proximity to existing infrastructure and potential to become mineable resources.

Results suggest Kiena contains several mineralized zones rather than the single principal ore shoot for which it was historically known, Bath said.

“Are we thinking big enough around how big this orebody could be?” she asked.

Wesdome is prioritizing targets close to existing underground workings that could be brought into the mine plan more quickly, while also testing larger, longer-term growth areas.

One longer-term target is Kiena East, a group of targets including Shawkey 10, Shawkey Mine, Zone 134 and Dubuisson that Wesdome is testing for wider, bulk-tonnage gold mineralization.

Drill hole SH-26-001 cut 106.5 metres grading 3.1 grams gold from 387 metres downhole at Shawkey 10, more than doubling the interpreted thickness of its mineralized host rock to more than 200 metres, according to Sept. 16 results. The interval is a core length, with an uncapped grade; the capped grade was 2.6 grams gold.

Wesdome is drilling to establish an initial resource there while testing whether the Kiena East zones connect as part of a larger mineralized system.

Replacing ounces

Although a reserve update in June established a reserve-based mine plan through 2033, Wesdome has historically been valued according to the comparatively limited number of operating years visible at any given time, despite its record of replacing mined ounces, Bath said.

Kiena’s latest figures support that argument. The mine ended 2025 with 711,000 oz. in proven and probable reserves, up from 701,000 oz. a year earlier, despite producing nearly 73,000 oz. during the year. Drilling more than offset mining depletion.

Wesdome’s longer reserve-replacement record comes from its Eagle River mine in Ontario. It’s produced more than 2 million oz. since 1995 yet still held 676,000 oz. in reserves at the end of 2025.

“We’re trying to build a mining district now at Kiena,” Bath said. “We want to create mining for generations.”