The First 40 Years

1960s-1990s
Kidd Creek base metal discovery in 1964 sparks an exploration rush focussed exclusively on locating base metals deposits
Kidd Creek base metal discovery in 1964 sparks an exploration rush focussed exclusively on locating base metals deposits
Gowest Amalgamated acquires interest in the area
Develops new geological model: identifying shear structure at mafic-ultramafic contact
Drilling intersects gold mineralization on the Frankfield zone at a vertical depth of 600 metres establishing depth potential
2000-2008
Geophysical surveys and several drilling campaigns leading to an inferred mineral resource of 510,000 ounces at the Frankfield East deposit, strengthening confidence in the geological model
Progress hindered by lack of ownership on adjacent claims and 50/50 JV arrangement on Frankfield
2009
Gowest acquires 100% of Frankfield east and adjacent claims
All available data compiled for entire regional area
Geochemical and high-res geophysical surveys conducted on the Frankfield Property
Environmental baseline and metallurgical studies commence
2010
Major drilling program of 30,000m expands the Frankfield East deposit both along strike and at depth
Deep drilling demonstrates the continuity of the gold horizon to a minimum vertical depth of 900m
Gowest acquires adjacent properties in Tully township from Goldcorp to increase land holdings by 400%
2011
Updated 43-101 compliant resource estimate completed demonstrating 1.2 MM oz
Drilling program continues to extend deposit strike and demonstrates the continuity to vertical depths in excess of 1000m
Gowest increases overall land holdings along Pipestone fault to approximately 60 square kilometers
Regional geophysical and geochemical program underway to identify “Frankfield-style” targets for winter drill program
First Nations Memorandum of Understanding agreement executed
Completed Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Frankfield Deposit
2012
Gowest land position increases to 93 sq km
Environmental baseline work completed for mine permitting
Positive full-scale ore sorting optimization test
Resource expansion drilling program confirms gold mineralization to at least 1.4 km along strike and 1.1 km vertical depth (deposit remains open)
Advancing plans to use a third-party processing facility to custom treat Frankfield East ore within 30 months
Updated NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate completed demonstrating almost 1.5 MM oz
2013
Gowest increases land position to 107 square km
Gowest signs Letter of Intent with Glencore Xstrata for Kidd Mill processing
The Frankfield East Gold deposit is renamed the Bradshaw Gold Deposit (“Bradshaw”) after Ronald J. Bradshaw who, as founder of Gowest (formerly Gowest Amalgamated Resources Ltd.), was instrumental in the discovery of this now-advanced gold asset
The Tully North Gold Zone is renamed the Roussain Gold Zone after Randall J. Roussain who was instrumental in negotiating Gowest’s acquisition agreement of this claim package with Goldcorp in 2011 and assisted in hole location for the successful exploration drill campaign completed in the winter of 2012-13
The Texmont Gold Zone is renamed the Sheridan Gold Zone after J. Patrick Sheridan, a long-time prospector and Gowest investor and the owner of New Texmont, a company that initially discovered the zone in the late 1980’s
Gowest received a $750,000 royalty payment from Gold Royalties Corporation (“Gold Royalties”) for the purchase of a 1.0% gross royalty interest on gold production from Gowest’s NTGP, including the Bradshaw Gold Deposit and a right-of-first refusal agreement with respect to future gold streams associated with the NTGP
2014
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with United Commodities AG (UC), which contemplates a potential strategic partnership that would enable Gowest to have future gold concentrate from Bradshaw refined at UC’s processing facility in North Cobalt, Ontario
Gowest acquired two mining leases (12 claim units) covering 193 hectares (1.93 sq km) adjacent to the eastern portion of Bradshaw. Formerly known as the White Star property, the surface rights (81 hectares) accompanying these newly acquired leases provide additional land needed for the infrastructure to be built around Gowest’s planned mine at Bradshaw, including room for the planned waste rock dump and settling ponds. Also, Gowest believes that this new property has strong geological potential and could enable the Company to extend Bradshaw’s current 1.3 kilometre gold mineralization strike length still further to the east
Following shareholder approval and sanctioned by the TSX Venture Exchange, Gowest raised gross proceeds of $3,400,000 through the sale of Units to Fortune Future Holdings Limited. In connection with this investment, Mr. Yungang Wu, a nominee of Fortune, was appointed to the board of directors of the Corporation
2015
Gowest announced the results from the Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) completed for the Bradshaw Gold deposit. The PFS was conducted by Stantec Mining (“Stantec”) through their Mississauga, Ontario office. The PFS was focused on mining the upper 500 vertical meters (“m”) of mineralization at Bradshaw. Previous drilling has intercepted mineralization at a vertical depth of 1,350 m, indicating the deposit remains open for additional development
The Company’s Closure Plan for Advanced Exploration – Bradshaw Deposit (the “Plan”) permit application was formally accepted for public consultation by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines
Gowest entered into an agreement with Crown Mining Corp. to acquire a 100% interest in four patented claims totalling 64 hectares located in Whitney Township near Timmins, Ontario. The claims adjoin the north and northwest boundary of the Hallnor property where the Hallnor Gold Mine was among the richest in the Timmins camp, and produced 1.7 million ounces from an area enclosed within four claims (64 hectares)
Gowest received notice from the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (“MNDM”) that the Company’s Closure Plan for Advanced Exploration – Bradshaw Deposit (the “Closure Plan”) had been filed
Gowest completed a program that encouraged the early exercise of 46,962,500 outstanding common share purchase warrants of the Company at a price of $0.06, raising aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of $2,817,750. Of this total, Directors, Officers and Insiders exercised 44,512,500 warrants to contribute $2,670,750
Gowest purchased the 1.5% net smelter return royalty (the “Royalty”) held by the Sheridan group. on the Company’s Frankfield Property, which includes the Bradshaw Gold Deposit and the Sheridan Zone for an aggregate consideration of 10,000,000 common shares of Gowest (each share having a deemed value of CDN$0.10)
Gowest closed a non-brokered private placement of 10,177,420 “flow-through” units of the Corporation (the “Units”), at a price of $0.10 per Unit, for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,017,742. Each Unit was comprised of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant issued on a flow-through basis, with each Warrant being exercisable to acquire one common share of the Corporation at a price of $0.15 until December 22, 2017
2016
Gowest provided an update on its development plans for the Company’s North Timmins Gold Project (“NTGP”), including plans to make the Bradshaw Gold Deposit the next new gold mine in the Timmins gold camp:
  • Advanced Exploration (“AE”) permitting process is in the final stages of review, but has been delayed by Ontario government processing
  • Revised target to commence site preparation work and mine development at Bradshaw: Q3 2016 and AE bulk sample collection to begin latter part of Q4 2016
  • Previous Bradshaw area drill results proximal but not included in the resource estimation, due to insufficient drilling, provide opportunity with further drilling to expand resources – drilling plans are being prepared
  • Ongoing technical review indicates excellent potential to expand the global NTGP gold resource beyond Bradshaw deposit area
  • Planning new geophysical surveys followed up by drill programs at Sheridan and Roussain gold zones
Gowest announced its intention to issue an aggregate of 1,312,500 common shares to non-management directors of the Corporation, as partial payment of fees owed to such directors in respect of the period from November 1, 2013 to October 31, 2015. The aggregate deemed value of the common shares to be issued is $105,000.00. The shares are being issued in lieu of cash in order to conserve the cash resources of the Corporation
Gowest’s Induced Polarization (“IP”) program has helped to reveal a distinct signature for the mineralization within its Bradshaw Gold Deposit, providing knowledge to help identify the best new exploration targets in the immediate surrounding area, as well as along untested portions of Gowest’s 20-kilometre segment of the prolific Pipestone Fault structure, which hosts Bradshaw and several other mineral deposits
The Company reported that it has received all of the permits required to begin Advanced Exploration (“AE”) work at Bradshaw; is advancing discussions to secure all required contracts and funding to allow for the mining and processing of the AE bulk sample; and, is progressing on detailed engineering work in advance of the start of the AE bulk sample collection
The Company entered into an negotiation agreement with Northern Sun Mining Corp. (“Northern”) for the use of the Redstone Mill (the “Mill”) located in Timmins, Ontario to process material from the Company’s Bradshaw Gold Deposit (“Bradshaw”)
Gowest closed a non-brokered private placement of 12,225,000 “flow-through” common shares of the Corporation and 325,000 non-“flow-through” common shares of the Corporation (collectively, the “Shares”), at a price of $0.20 per Share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $2,510,000 (the “Offering”)
Gowest entered into a definitive Pre-Paid Forward Gold Purchase Agreement with PGB Timmins Holdings LP, a limited partnership organized under the laws of the Province of Ontario, to finance the development of its Bradshaw Gold Deposit. PGB agreed to advance to the Company up to an aggregate of US$17,600,000 (the “Gold Prepayment Amount”), in four tranches over a period of approximately 12 months, as partial consideration for the purchase of up to an aggregate of 65,805 ounces of gold to be produced from Bradshaw and delivered to PGB. The full funding of the Gold Prepayment Amount is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent applicable in respect of each tranche, as specified in the Agreement
2017
Gowest entered into a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) with Valard Construction LP (“Valard”) for the financing, design, procurement and construction of a high-voltage electrical infrastructure (the “Transmission Facilities”) to connect its Bradshaw Gold Deposit to the provincial power transmission grid. The parties have agreed to work towards formalizing an agreement in early 2017
Gowest entered into a non-binding letter of intent with Northern Sun Mining Corp., a corporation existing under the laws of the Province of Ontario, with respect to the creation of a joint-venture corporation (“JVco”) that will own and operate the Redstone Mill. Upon completion of the proposed Transaction, each of the parties will hold a 50% interest in JVco. The Redstone Mill, located near Timmins, Ontario, which has the capacity to process approximately 1,500 tonnes of ore-per-day, is well-situated to satisfy Gowest’s anticipated future ore processing requirements
PGB Timmins Holdings LP (“PGB”) funded the initial tranche of US$5,600,000 pursuant to the previously announced Pre-Paid Forward Gold Purchase Agreement entered into between PGB and Gowest on December 16, 2016. PGB is an investment vehicle controlled by Pandion Mine Finance, LP
2018
Gowest entered into a definitive Custom Milling Agreement with QMX Gold Corporation (“QMX”) pursuant to which QMX will process material from Bradshaw at its Aurbel Mill located in Val d’Or, Quebec
Gowest provided an update on the progress the Company had made at Bradshaw, noting that it had completed over 2,098 metres of underground development; 28,567 tonnes of development material hade been stockpiled on surface for sorting, milling and sale as concentrate; no injuries at the project to date for mine site surface and underground construction; the water treatment plant was fully operational and the discharge is environmentally compliant; and current mining was temporarily suspended due to the lack of room for further development material stockpiling as well as uncertainty on the timing of material processing
Northern Sun had received conditional approval for the processing of the ore through the Redstone Mill from both the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, subject to satisfying certain provincial government guidelines, the timing of which could not be determined. Meanwhile, Northern Sun and the Company mutually determined to terminate the previously announced share purchase agreement entered into between the parties, pursuant to which the Company was to acquire a 50% interest in the Redstone Mill and form a joint venture with Northern Sun for its operation. This termination allows for both Northern Sun and Gowest to re-evaluate their strategic plans
Gowest signed an agreement to sell gold concentrate produced from Bradshaw to Shandong Humon Smelting (“Humon”) of China. In connection with entering into this agreement, Humon advanced US$3.0 million to Gowest as a pre-payment for the planned delivery and sale of gold concentrate to be produced as part of Gowest’s ongoing Advanced Exploration – Bulk Sample program
2019
Gowest consolidated the outstanding common shares of the Corporation on a one (1) for ten (10) basis, effective June 17, 2019, following approval at the Corporation’s annual and special meeting of shareholders held on June 10, 2019. Following completion of the Consolidation, the number of issued and outstanding Common Shares was reduced from 428,571,242 to approximately 42,857,124
The Company received gross proceeds of $8,000,000 from Fortune Future Holdings Limited pursuant to the completion of its previously announced private placement. Through this transaction, the Corporation issued and sold to Fortune an aggregate of 17,777,777 common shares at a price of $0.45 per share (on a post-Consolidation basis)
Gowest reported that assay results from a multi-purpose drill program at Bradshaw designed to provide infill detail on stopes to be mined in the bulk sample area confirmed newly-identified high-grade gold zones to the north of the main deposit
The Company announced the departure of two directors, John Frostiak and Larry Phillips, and the addition of Parviz Farsangi, a nominee of Fortune Future Holdings Ltd
Gowest completed an initial closing of a second Private Placement, raising gross proceeds of $2,043,049
2020
Gowest announced plans for a diamond drill program as well as engineering work in preparation for extending the main ramp, locating the planned vent raise, as well as providing additional details on the first long stope. Gowest also noted that Northern Sun Mining Corp. was working on obtaining the necessary permits to process this ore at its Redstone Mill
Gowest completed a second closing of the latest Private for gross proceeds of $1,000,000
Gowest held a public open house to update and receive feedback from the community regarding its ongoing plans for the Advanced Exploration and Mine Production Phases at Bradshaw. This included providing information about the environmental permitting and current approvals, reporting on the ongoing Health, Safety, Environmental and Social performance at the site, as well as on the Mine Production Closure Plan
The Company entered into a bridge loan agreement with Lush Land Investment Canada Inc. for a loan facility of up to C$1.6 million, funds that were received shortly thereafter. The purpose of the agreement was to enable Gowest to continue to move ahead with its bulk sample program at Bradshaw while the Company continued to work towards a significantly larger financing
In light of the COVID-19 situation and to ensure the safety of all of the Company’s employees and contractors, all appropriate health and safety precautions were instituted both at Bradshaw and at the Company’s offices in Timmins and Toronto
The Company started the construction of the main vent raise and secondary egress at the mine site, which is required for the Company to transition into production without delay once the bulk sample is completed
2021
A total of 5,000 tonnes of stockpiled material was passed through the Company’s onsite x-ray ore-sorting plant. The initial tests were conducted to commission and optimize the sorter plant operations, including adjusting the sorter’s operating parameters with the aim of maximizing metal recovery and material throughput. The Company trucked approximately 23,000 tonnes of gold bearing mixed development material, including sorted rock, to Northern Sun’s Redstone Mill for processing. The success of this process confirmed that Bradshaw would be able to provide a sustained delivery to the mill, using a local trucking company, hauling the expected average of 800-850 tonnes per day (tpd) of material. Approximately 1,040 tonnes of concentrate were produced for shipping to the Humon smelter. Gold recovery from the mill demonstrated steady improvement as the processing advanced
Gowest entered into a loan agreement with Lush Land Investment Canada Inc. in respect of a bridge loan in the principal amount of $1,000,000. The proceeds of the loan were to be used for general corporate purposes. Meirong Yuan, a director of Gowest, is also a director of Lush Land
  • Ms. Janet O’Donnell, the Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation, gave notice that she would be resigning from the Corporation effective August 28, 2021, although she remained available to assist with an orderly transition. Ms. O’Donnell has served as Chief Financial Officer for 13 years and played a key role in the growth and development of the Company
    • Mr. Gregory Romain stepped down from the Board of Directors and as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation after having served the Corporation for the past 13 years. Replacing Mr. Romain as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer is Mr. Yungang Wu who is a member of the Gowest Technical team and a member of the Board of the Corporation
    The Company was saddened to announce the recent passing of Gregory ‘Greg’ Hart, the Company’s previous Mine Manger, who died in Timmins, Ontario on August 29th in his 61st year. Mr. Hart joined the Gowest team as Mine Manager in September 2017, bringing his over 38 years of direct experience in leading mining and construction activities to fortify the foundation for the development of the Bradshaw gold project. Prior to that, he had been Underground Manager and Manager of Operations for Goldcorp’s Porcupine Gold Mine in Timmins, as well as VP, Operations with Dumas Contracting
    The Company entered into a loan agreement with Meirong Yuan, a director of Gowest, in respect of a bridge loan in the principal amount of $500,000, to be used by Gowest for general corporate purposes
    Gowest completed its previously reported conversion of an aggregate of $18,024,088 of debt owed to four separate creditors into equity of Gowest. The Debt, which was incurred by the Company to support operations since 2017, was converted into common shares of Gowest at a conversion price of $0.25 per share, resulting in the issuance of an aggregate of 72,096,350 common shares of Gowest
    The Company entered into a loan agreement with Lush Land Investment Canada Inc. in respect of a bridge loan in the principal amount of $1,000,000 for working capital. Meirong Yuan, a director of Gowest, holds 25% of Lush Land