West Red Lake Gold Declares Commercial Production at Madsen Gold Mine

Madsen and Rowan Projects Location Map GNW

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd.
(“West Red Lake Gold” or “WRLG” or the “Company”) (TSXV: WRLG)
(OTCQX: WRLGF) is pleased to declare commercial production at its 100% owned Madsen Gold Mine, located in the Red Lake Mining District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada.

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The Madsen Mine achieved commercial production as of January 1, 2026. The mill averaged 689 tonnes per day (“tpd”) in December 2025. This represents 86% of permitted throughput of 800 tpd and meets the Company’s internal commercial production requirement of 30 consecutive days of mill throughput at 65% or greater of permitted capacity. Operational stability, the other internal requirement, is also in place at Madsen. Consistent strong mill recoveries, which averaged 94.6% in December, enabled production of 3,215 ounces of gold.

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“We are delighted to announce commercial production at the Madsen Mine, achieved only seven months after completion of the bulk sample,” said Shane Williams, President and CEO. “Achieving commercial production is a major milestone for any producer and it comes after a strong December that saw tonnage, grade, recoveries, and production all perform to plan. Credit and gratitude go to the site operations team, who delivered a responsible and methodical mine ramp up. I also want to thank our partners the Lac Seul and Wabauskang First Nations and the community of Red Lake for their longstanding support.”

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“We will continue to ramp up from this strong base, and I anticipate Madsen will reach sustained permitted capacity by mid-2026.”

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For the first quarter (“Q1”) of 2026, mill feed will come predominantly from the 4447 area, the high-grade zone in South Austin that the Company defined in 2025. Mill feed is expected to average in excess of 6 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au) in Q1.

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In December the Madsen Mine produced 21,389 tonnes of ore, which is an average of 689 tonnes per day. The tonnes carried an average grade of 4.94 g/t Au. Mill recovery of 94.6% over the month produced 3,215 ounces of gold in December.

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In the fourth quarter (“Q4”) of 2025 the Madsen Mine produced 49,162 tonnes of ore, which is an average of 534 tonnes per day. The tonnes carried an average grade of 5.06 g/t Au. Mill recovery of 95% over the quarter recovered 7,379 ounces of gold in the quarter.

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The operation poured 7,200 ounces of gold in Q4. (Note that recovered and poured ounces do no align exactly due to gold in circuit and timing of gold pours.) Those ounces were sold at an average price of US$4,150 per ounce for total gold sales revenue of US$30 million.

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In 2025, the Madsen Mine poured 20,000 oz. gold. This gold was sold at an average price of US$3,650 per oz. for total gold sales revenues of US$73 million. The Company ended 2025 with CAD$46 million cash and gold receivables.

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Table 1. Madsen Mine operational results for December and Q4 2025