Wesdome said ongoing development on the 1038m level had confirmed that mineralisation east of the western core of the 7 Zone had merged to form one continuous zone, "now defined over 146m in strike length and grading 30.5 g/t gold uncut over an average true thickness of 2.61m".

Equally as exciting, recent drilling confirmed the 7 Zone continued a further 100m downdip to the 1,250m level at similar grades and strike lengths and remained open at depth and to the east, president and CEO Duncan Middlemiss said.

"The 7 Zone will be an important aspect of the Eagle River production over the coming years," he said.

A fourth drill has been added underground to better define and extend the known zones.

The Eagle River Complex produced 19,795 ounces of gold in the September quarter, 28% more than a year earlier, at an all-in sustaining cost of US$888/oz.

The bulk came from Eagle River underground at a grade of 13.3g/t and 358oz was produced from the Mishi openpit at a grade of 3.4g/t.

The company ended the quarter with C$30.7 million (US$23 million) in cash.

Its shares were trading below C$2 12 months ago and are back up towards October's 52-week peak of $4.18.

They closed up 9.6% on Friday or 35c to $3.99, capitalising it close to $538 million.