Westhaven Gold Corp. announced that drilling will commence shortly on the 17,623-hectare Shovelnose Gold Property. Shovelnose is located within the prospective Spences Bridge Gold Belt (SBGB), which borders the Coquihalla Highway 30 kilometres south of Merritt, British Columbia.

Completed the first Mineral Resource Estimate at Shovelnose, over a million ounces of gold equivalent from the first of multiple mineralized zones. 791,000 ounces of gold and 3,894,000 ounces of silver Indicated. 263,000 ounces of gold and 1,023,000 ounces of silver Inferred.

Arranged a financing package with Franco-Nevada Corporation. Drilled 38,147 metres (m) at Shovelnose. Drilled the highest-grade gold-silver intercept ever on the SBGB.

23.03m of 37.24 g/t gold (Au) and 209.52 g/t silver (Ag), including 1.12m of 294.00 g/t Au and 2,110 g/t Ag. Confirmed and better-defined high-grade surface mineralization at Franz, resulting in a 311% increase (gram-metres Au) compared to previous high-grade intercepts. Drilled 3,336m at the Skoonka gold project, and successfully extended the known mineralization a further 900m along strike at the JJ-Zone.

48.05m of 1.28 g/t Au and 1.29 g/t Ag, including 1.9m of 21.15 g/t Au and 13.65 g/t Ag. Completed the most detailed Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Preliminary Field Reconnaissance Report to date with the Citxw Nlaka'pamux Assembly (CNA) and K'en T'em Management. Completed 2ND year of an ongoing Environmental Baseline program with SLR Environmental in collaboration with CNA (K'em T'em Management).

Westhaven will be focusing the majority of its 2023 drill budget on newly generated targets outside of the ~4km long Zone One Trend, host to mineralization previously identified at the South Zone, Alpine, Tower, FMN and Franz zones. Additional drilling is also needed in a gap between Tower and FMN. The Skoonka project contains nine known gold-silver surface showings (Discovery, JJ, Deadwood West, Deadwood East, Ember, Backburn Central, Backburn Southeast, Porphyry and Zebra) hosted in either multi-stage massive veins with associated breccia zones or narrow stockwork veinlets with disseminated pyrite and pervasive silica alteration.

Compilation, review and re-interpretation of extensive historical exploration data (including airborne and ground geophysics; geological mapping and prospecting; silt, soil and rock samples; hand and mechanized surface trenching; and diamond drill results) has identified significant upside potential associated with previously known gold occurrences, as well as unsourced anomalies. Westhaven's first drill program, completed in the fall of 2022 confirmed prior high grade bonanza style epithermal mineralization at the JJ showing, intersected a broad lower grade halo of brecciation and alteration, and extended the associated mineralized vein system an additional 900m southwest to the new JJ West discovery. The entire vein system at JJ-West appears to be preserved, as supported by mapped surface geology indicating the overlying Spius Formation is present in a down-dropped fault block, and coincident strong mercury soil anomalies.

For 2023, Westhaven intends to focus ‘boots on the ground' exploration on specific target areas with short term discovery potential, such as unsourced new geochemical anomalies and unexplained features in immediate proximity to known showings (e.g. Ember and Deadwood). Work later in the season will include follow-up to any new discoveries in the initial program and further investigation along strike/down dip of past mineralized drill intersections.