Results from the Kiena Deep A Zone included 8m at 325.9g/t gold, which it said was 46.8g/t cut and an estimated true width of 5m.

The company said drilling at the VC1 zone had continued to return high-grade results and confirmed the previous interpretation that the zone was a separate structure with a different orientation to the A zone.

President and CEO Duncan Middlemiss said the company had an aggressive 40,000m programme planned for this year.

He also said they were "very satisfied" with the successful restart of the mill to process the A zone bulk sample in December, with 2,252 ounces of gold poured so far.

He said Kiena's infrastructure had been well-maintained, enabling a quick restart once a production decision was made.

Wesdome had mothballed the mine in 2013 due to the declining gold price and lack of developed reserves, concentrating on its high-grade Eagle River complex in Ontario.

It updated Kiena's resource in December and Middlemiss said a prefeasibility study was expected in the second quarter, with a possible restart decision soon after.

"The pre-production timeframe is forecast to be less than six months, potentially driving the Kiena mine into commercial production in Q4 of this year," he said.

Wesdome is selling its Moss Lake gold project in Ontario to new company Goldshore Resources for at least C$57 million, so it could remain fully focused on its underground high-grade gold mining expertise.

Wesdome shares (TSX: WDO) have spanned $5.85-$15 over the past year.

They closed up 4.7% yesterday to $9.54, capitalising it at $1.3 billion (US$1 billion).