62 62 Page 62 By Gregory Reynolds A jump in gold production is forecast for 2017 by W esdome Gold Mines Ltd after an exceptional year for ex ploration In 2017 it expects gold production to increase over 2016 s 47737 ounces to range between 52000 58000 ounces at operating costs between CAD1030 1130 per ounce USD765 835 per ounce In 2016 the company spent 10 mil lion on exploration for 104000 me tres of drillin g 2015 1 million 21000 metres The company had a 2016 net income of 24 million or 002 per share as compared to 2015 s 11 million W esdome is in its 29th year of contin uous gold mining operations in Can ada The company is 100 Canadian focused with a pipeline of projects in various stages of development The Eagle River Complex at W awa in Northeastern Ontario is currently producing gold from two mines the Eagle River Under ground Mine and the Mishi Open pit that is processed at a central mill W esdome is actively exploring its brownfelds asset the Kiena Com plex in V al dOr Quebec The Kiena Complex is a fully permitted former mine with a 930 metre shaft and 2000 tonne per day mill The company has further upside at its Moss Lake gold deposit located 100 kilometres west of Thunder Bay Ontario which is being explored and evaluated to be developed in the ap propriate gold price environment Duncan Middlemiss president and CEO commented we have imple mented a costcutting program at the Eagle River Complex which is start ing to yield results and under ground development work completed in 2016 has resulted in improved mine se quencing W e have a total of eleven drills on four assets three under ground at Eagle River two at Mishi four at Ki ena and two at Moss Lake Our asset base is strong and these are appropri ate leve ls of exploration in order to return value to shareholders About 2016 he stated this was a tran sitional year for W esdome with many achievements and positive changes Despite a slow start to production operating results improved through out the year The team brought higher grade stopes into the mine plan ahead of schedule and controlled production costs even as additional investments were made to expand mineral re serves renew our capital equipment and extend our operating infrastruc tures W ork continues to increase gold pro duction from the Eagle River Under ground Mine where our mar gins are highest This along with higher gold prices resulted in higher operating cash fow and net income over 2015 despite lower production Free cash fow was lower than 2015 primarily due to increased exploration spending and reserve development This exploratio n work is necessary to determine the appropriate production profle scenario at the Eagle River Complex Middlemiss added that W esdome had an excepti onal year for explora tion Eagle River reserves increased 15 net of depletion 300 E Zone was drilled further and delineated where Exploration pays of for W esdome with higher gold pr oduction seen Page 63 V anair s Ther e V anairs Ther e When y our cr ews r eady t o g o and half y our f eet w ont star t LETS GET ST AR TED 1888629 142 4 www w eenterprises c om A d ead batt er y shoul dnt kill a pr oductiv e w ork da y When a batt er y dies the w ork da y st ops in its tr acks The pat ent pending FS T3000 f eaturing the V anair Super Capacit or V SC pr o vid es instantaneous engine star ting po w er t o g et v ehicl es back up and runningF AS T No mor e waiting f or batt eries t o charg e g etting the v ehicl es back t o w ork in mer e sec onds FS T3000 is the fast est v ehicl e star ting s yst em on the mark et and can star t all v ehicl es without d o wntime 3000 AMP S of engine star ting po w er F eaturing V anair Super Capacit or V SC 240 AMP alt ernat or f or fast r echarging 12 V and 12 24 V charging and star ting capabilities A vailabl e with and without 24 CF M up t o 175 P SI air c ompr essor FS T3000Air includ es r emot e c ontr ol panel f or eas y oper ation A V AILABLE A T the widths are signifcantly greater than previously encountered at Ea gle River The 7 Zone was traced 200 metres up plunge towards surface These results set the path for diversifed working places under ground with the goal of raising and stabilizing quarter to quarter production W e are very excited by the Kiena Deep discovery in V al dOr Que bec Since announcing the discovery in August 2016 we have increased the number of drills from 2 to 4 and results continu e to deliver grades substantially higher than the historic production grade profle at Kiena of 45 gt Step out holes confrmed mine raliza tion now tested along 550 metres of strike length indicating a potential lar ge new gold system W e expect to make a decision on under ground ramp developm ent in the short term Mineral reserves net of 2016 pro duction increased for the fourth con secutive year Proven and probable reserves at Eagle River was 344000 ounces 2015 300000 ounces as at Dec 31 2016 a 15 increase from the prior year Mishi pit reserves were lowered to 102000 ounces 2015 131000 after mining and reconfguring the west pit T otal reserves for the Eagle River Complex was 446000 ounces as at Dec31 2016 T otal mill throughput of 309035 tonnes averaging 844 tonnes per cal endar day comparable to the previ ous year of 836 tonnes per calendar day Eagle River Complex revenue of 816 million 2015 735 mil lion on gold sales of 48680 ounces 2015 49804 at an average real ized price of 1676 or US1265 per ounce 2015 1475 or US 1153 PLEASE NOTE Mr Middlemiss will be speakin g at the Gala Dinner that is part of the Canadian Mining Expo May 30June 1 in the City of T immins He is now the pr esident and chief executive ofcer of W es dome Prior to joining W esdome he was pr esident and chief execu tive ofcer and a dir ector of St An dr ew Goldfelds Ltd SAS until its acquisition by Kirkland Lake Gold Inc in January 2016 Mr Middle miss joined SAS in July 2008 as general manager and vice pr esident operations later assuming the r ole of chief operating ofcer He was appointed as pr esident and CEO in October 2013 Excited by Kiena deep discovery