Wesdome Announces Development Drifting and Drilling on 7 Zone at the Eagle River Mine Returns Longer Than Average Strike Lengths and Extends Zone at Depth

TORONTO, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX: WDO) (“Wesdome” or the “Company”) today announces underground drifting and drilling results from ongoing 7 Zone exploration and development activities at the Company’s wholly-owned Eagle River Mine in Wawa, Ontario.

Longitudinal Section (Looking North) Longitudinal View Looking North 3D View (Looking Down)

The Company is continuing to develop and explore the No. 7 zone, which is the intermediate zone parallel to the 300 zone to the north and the historic 8 zone to the south. All three zones are currently in production.  Ongoing development on 1038 m level has now confirmed that mineralization east of the western core of the 7 zone, have merged to form one continuous zone now defined over 146 metres in strike length and grading 30.5 g/t Au uncut over an average true thickness of 2.61 metres (Figures 1 and 2).

Sill development in the 7 zone over the past two years has returned the following results:  

Additionally, ongoing drilling has now confirmed that this longer strike length extends to depth over an addition 100 metres to the 1,250 m level and remains open down dip. This extension is a substantial addition of potential resources compared to previous interpretations, and thus will be the focus of future drilling.

Highlights from Drilling (Table 1):

Hole 942-E-59: 151.44 g/t Au uncut (61.70 g/t Au cut) over 1.99 true width

Hole 942-E-63: 47.32 g/t Au uncut (18.74 g/t Au Cut) over 3.36 true width

Hole 942-E-64: 39.01 g/t Au uncut (23.63 g/t Au cut) over 2.47 m true width

Hole 942-E-65: 33.21 g/t Au uncut (26.10 g/t Au cut) over 1.56 m true width

Further, limited drilling indicates that the eastern extension of the 7 zone occurs to the southeast side of a northeast transecting diabase dyke, that is interpreted to offset the eastern extension approximately 20 metres. This area has potential to host additional resources and is open to the east. Drilling is planned for this area in 2019.

A fourth drill has been added underground to better define and extend known zones and to identify the eastern extension of the parallel 300 and 7 zones to the east. Exploration surface drilling with two drills is ongoing to intersect these parallel zones closer to surface.

Mr. Duncan Middlemiss, President and CEO commented, "We continue to be encouraged with the good continuity and good grades from the ongoing development at the 7 Zone, which now has a strike length defined of over 146 metres. These longer strike lengths will provide for enhanced mining flexibility and ultimately augmented production rates.  Equally as exciting is the result of the recent drilling that has confirmed the 7 zone continues a minimum of an additional 100 metres down dip at similar grades and strike lengths, and it remains open to depth and to the east along strike on the southeast side of a crosscutting diabase dike. The 7 zone will be an important aspect of the Eagle River production over the coming years. The results confirm the ongoing success the mine has had with our exploration program of the parallel zones and we remain committed to aggressive exploration. The current program is utilizing four underground drills and two surface drills and in order to identify additional resources and workplaces for increased future production profiles.”

TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE

The sampling of, and assay data from, underground drill core is monitored through the implementation of a quality assurance - quality control (QA-QC) program designed to follow industry best practice. Samples are transported in sealed bags to Eagle River Mine assay office in Wawa, Ontario. Samples are analyzed for gold using standard fire assay technique with gravimetric finish. Wesdome inserts blanks and certified reference standard in the sample sequence for quality control.

The technical content of this release has been compiled, reviewed and approved by Michael Michaud, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration of the Company and a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 -Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

ABOUT WESDOME
Wesdome Gold Mines is in its 30^th year of continuous gold mining operations in Canada.  The Company is 100% Canadian focused with a pipeline of projects in various stages of development.  The Eagle River Complex in Wawa, Ontario is currently producing gold from two mines, the Eagle River Underground Mine and the Mishi Open pit, from a central mill.  Wesdome is actively exploring its brownfields asset, the Kiena Complex in Val d’Or, Quebec.  The Kiena Complex is a fully permitted former mine with a 930 metre shaft and 2,000 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 evaluated to be developed in the appropriate gold price environment.  The Company has approximately 133.9 million shares issued and outstanding and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “WDO.”

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This news release contains “forward-looking information” which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of the Company and its projects. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances, management’s estimates or opinions should change, except as required by securities legislation. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company has included in this news release certain non-IFRS performance measures, including, but not limited to, mine operating profit, mining and processing costs and cash costs. Cash costs per ounce reflect actual mine operating costs incurred during the fiscal period divided by the number of ounces produced.  These measures are not defined under IFRS and therefore should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to or more meaningful than, net income (loss) or cash flow from operating activities as determined in accordance with IFRS as an indicator of our financial performance or liquidity. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow

Drilling Composites

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