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Ken Armstrong

President & CEO | Westhaven Gold Corp. (TSXV: WHN) | Mining Executive and Exploration Leader

"Leading Westhaven Gold's Shovelnose project advancement with a CDN $85M Dundee earn-in partnership"

Mining Executive

Biography

Ken Armstrong is a mining executive and geologist who serves as President and CEO of Westhaven Gold Corp. (TSXV: WHN), a gold exploration and development company focused on the Spences Bridge Gold Belt in southern British Columbia. He took the role in 2025 to lead the company through a critical growth phase, specifically advancing the flagship Shovelnose gold project toward feasibility while continuing to explore the broader district. Resource investors tracking gold developers in BC should understand his approach, as he is responsible for executing a substantial, partner-funded drill program at a time when the region is attracting renewed attention.

Armstrong's career spans multiple leadership roles across the mining sector. He serves as Chairman of North Arrow Minerals and holds a position with Cornish Metals, giving him exposure to both diamond exploration and tin/copper development. At Westhaven, he inherited a project that had already delivered headline drill results — including 8 meters grading 48 g/t gold and 229 g/t silver at Shovelnose — and his mandate is to translate that early exploration success into a defined resource and, ultimately, a feasibility study. The company's 2025 management refresh under his leadership brought in a new CFO, VP Exploration, and technical advisors with experience at companies like Newcrest Mining, one of Australia's largest gold producers.

His exploration philosophy centers on systematic, data-driven drilling within epithermal gold systems — deposits formed near the Earth's surface by hot mineral-rich fluids, which are common in volcanic belts like Spences Bridge. Armstrong emphasizes de-risking projects through structural understanding: confirming that drill holes intersect mineralization as geological models predict, which builds confidence in the resource estimate. Under his leadership, Westhaven has validated an expanded exploration model at Shovelnose that identifies potential for additional gold zones beyond the main structural trend. This methodical approach matters to investors because it reduces the geological uncertainty that can make or break a junior miner's valuation.

A defining feature of Armstrong's current strategy is the strategic earn-in agreement with Dundee Corporation, under which Dundee may earn up to a 60% interest in Westhaven's Spences Bridge properties by funding up to CDN $85 million in project expenditures. The first phase includes a minimum CDN $30 million commitment, fully funding a 50,000-meter drill program and Prefeasibility Study (PFS — an early-stage engineering assessment that estimates whether a project can be built and operated profitably) work at Shovelnose. For investors, this structure means Westhaven can advance its flagship project toward feasibility without diluting shareholders through equity raises — a significant advantage for a junior company in a capital-intensive industry. Armstrong's ability to execute this partnership and deliver drill results will be the key factor in whether Westhaven re-rates from an explorer to a developer.

Videos (1)

Westhaven Gold: Drills Confirm Wide High-Grade Gold Continuity with Potential to Scale

Westhaven Gold: Drills Confirm Wide High-Grade Gold Continuity with Potential to Scale

guest Jun 2, 2026
  • Top takeaway His central argument is that Shovel Nose should be judged on margin rather than ounces per year — he puts after-tax margin near US$1,300 per gold ounce and rejects the 100,000 oz/yr benchmark he says most Canadian projects are held to.
  • He defends the roughly 56,000 oz/yr gold and 300,000-330,000 oz/yr silver production profile, citing Dundee's willingness to partner as support and the low capital intensity of the build as the reason the smaller scale is not a problem.
  • He expects the infill program to solidify rather than expand the roughly one million ounce gold-equivalent resource across three deposits, with the pre-feasibility study advancing in parallel through metallurgical samples in the lab and environmental and socioeconomic baseline studies starting ahead of the assessment process.
  • He frames near-term news flow as exploration-led, pointing to an airborne magnetic survey just completed over the southern Shovel Nose property, with new targets to be folded into a summer 2026 exploration program of roughly three times last year's metres.
  • He presents the company's four properties across roughly 100 km of the Spences Bridge belt as one epithermal system with the same plumbing, saying the current funding model is the first that allows proper follow-up along the full trend.

Westhaven's Shovelnose project pairs a one-million-ounce gold-silver resource with AISC (All-In Sustaining Cost — what it really costs to produce an ounce) under $900. Armstrong argues investors should judge a mine by after-tax margin per ounce rather than a 100,000-ounce annual production screen. Infill drilling is confirming continuity of wide, high-grade intercepts, which reduces grade-capping risk in the resource estimate feeding the pre-feasibility study. Dundee's $85 million partnership funds the campaign while Westhaven keeps 40% and stays free to sell that stake, with no corporate right of first refusal. Sitting beside the Coquihalla Highway with power on site, the project avoids major infrastructure build-out and holds pre-production capital under $200 million.

Showing 1–1 of 1 videos

Key Quotes

"This planned transition represents a strategic renewal of leadership as we work to rapidly advance the Shovelnose project towards feasibility in parallel with ongoing gold exploration efforts across our highly prospective Spences Bridge portfolio of properties."

— Westhaven Gold press release on CEO appointment

Key Works

Onsite interview at 121 Mining Investment New York covering Westhaven's strategy and Shovelnose project advancement

Armstrong presents Westhaven's investment thesis, new leadership team, and district-scale gold belt potential

Specializations

GoldEpithermal Gold SystemsJunior MinersMineral ExplorationBritish Columbia Mining

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