VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Western Exploration Inc. (TSXV: WEX; OTCQX: WEXPF) (the "Company" or "Western Exploration") is pleased to provide additional assay results for the final four holes from the 2022 Phase 1 drill program at Doby George, one of three main mineral deposits located at the Company's wholly-owned Aura Project, located in Elko County, Nevada.

Figure 1. Location of 2022 PQ Metallurgical test holes and resource zones in the Doby George deposit, with key assay intervals received YTD. (Graphic: Business Wire)

DRILL HIGHLIGHTS

• Drill hole DGC794 intersected 26.06 meters of 6.93 g/t Au and 12.34 meters of 4.57 g/t Au
• Drill hole DGC795 intersected 30.94 meters of 2.07 g/t AuFA
• Drill hole DGC796 intersected 16.76 meters of 2.12 g/t Au

Western Exploration CEO Darcy Marud said, "We have now received assay results for all nine drill holes completed at Doby George in 2022. The assay results demonstrate remarkable continuity of high-grade, near-surface, oxide gold mineralization at Doby George. Western Exploration has long believed in the higher-grade potential at Doby George and the Phase 1 drill program completed in 2022 has confirmed this belief.”

“The results of the Phase 1 drill program will be used to complete further metallurgical test work with the view of advancing the Doby George deposit to a Pre-Feasibility Study. In addition, we anticipate following up these high-grade intersections with additional step-out drilling in both oxide and unoxidized areas of Doby George in 2023,” continued Marud.

The complete results for holes DGC794, DGC795, DGC796 and DGC797 are reported below in Table 1 below, along with the assay results previously reported on October 2, 2022 and December 8, 2022.

2022 DRILL PROGRAM SUMMARY

The Phase 1 drill program was comprised of nine large diameter (PQ) core holes which were completed between July 26, 2022, and September 12, 2022. The drill holes were located at eight different drill sites for a total of 1,138 meters in drilling at the Doby George deposit (see Figure 1 and Table 2 below).

The purpose of the Phase 1 drill program was to evaluate areas within, and adjacent to, the current resource boundary to:

• Validate and delineate current mineral resources.
• Locally assess for the expansion potential and structural controls on mineralization.
• Provide samples for metallurgical test work to outline leach kinematics, as well as mineralized material and waste rock characteristics; and expand upon geotechnical studies through additional test work.

Drill holes DGC794 and DGC795 were drilled in the Twilight zone of Doby George, which accounts for limited overall tonnage, but locally exceptional gold grades. Both holes showed positive AuFA grade distribution when compared to the resource block model prepared for the Company by Mine Development Associates (see Figure 1 and Figure 2 below) and contained in the technical report titled "2021 Updated Resource Estimates and Technical Report For the Aura Gold-Silver Project, Elko County, Nevada" dated October 20, 2021 (with an effective date of October 14, 2021) (the "Technical Report").

A copy of the Technical Report is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Western Exploration's issuer profile.

The Twilight holes show variable AuCN leach recoveries, but these are typically at, or well above 80% in the significant intercepts.

Hole DGC796 was drilled in the West Ridge Deposit to test the deepest portion of the deposit in an area modeled as mixed to unoxidized mineralization (see Figure 1 and Figure 3 below). There is good correlation with distribution of fire assay gold grades relative to the block model. Distribution of mixed and unoxidized mineralization also generally confirms the modeled sulfide boundary in the Technical Report.

Hole DGC797 was drilled to verify an isolated high-grade intercept located in the NE part of the West Ridge Deposit (see Figure 1 and Figure 3 below). The hole intersected only one narrow zone of +1.0 g/t Au mineralization and is the only hole from the 2022 drill program that did not confirm block model grades. This area will be re-evaluated with future drilling, as it lies on a major structural trend.

All sample intervals were assayed by both fire assay (AuFA) and cyanide soluble shake tests (AuCN) followed up by atomic absorption finish. The AuCN results are a measure of the solubility of Au in diluted CN solutions and the state of oxidation of the samples. An AuCN/AuFA ratio of greater than 80% generally indicates strong oxidation and good cyanide extraction potential.

Table 1. January 16, 2023 Doby George Drill Hole Results ⁽¹⁾

Notes:

1. Reported at a minimum of 3.0 meters @ 0.3 g/t cutoff.
2. See news release of Western Exploration dated October 26, 2022 and entitled "Western Exploration Intersects 23.63 meters of 3.27 g/t Au and 54.56 metres of 2.08 g/t Au from the Doby George Deposit at the Aura Project (Elko County, NV)".
3. See news release of Western Exploration dated December 8, 2022 and entitled "Western Exploration Intersects 74.22 metres of 1.71 g/t Au and 40.40 meters of 2.18 g/t Au from the Doby George Deposit at the Aura Project (Elko County, NV).
4. DGC794 AuCN/AuFA ratios range from 56-100%, based on 19 samples; with 8 samples below 80%; DGC795 AuCN/AuFA ratios range from 89-100%, based on 13 samples; with no samples below 80%; DGC796 AuCN/AuFA ratios range from 2-100%, based on 19 samples; with 15 samples below 80%; DGC797 AuCN/AuFA ratios range from 91-100%, based on 2 samples; with no samples below 80%

Table 2. Doby George 2022 Drill Hole Coordinates

2023 OUTLOOK

During 2023, the Company plans on completing metallurgical test work at Doby George in the first half of 2023 and then moving towards the commencement of a Pre-Feasibility Study. Additional step-out diamond drilling is proposed for Q3 and Q4 2023 to follow up on high-grade intersections in both oxidized and unoxidized portions of Doby George.

During 2022, Western Exploration completed an updated 3D geologic model of Gravel Creek and Wood Gulch. The Company now believes that both deposits formed contemporaneously and are related to a Miocene felsic eruptive event. The eruptive event is bound by NW trending extensional fault zones that are fluid conduits for low sulphidation epithermal style mineralization at both Wood Gulch and Gravel Creek.

The new geologic model has significantly expanded the footprint of prospective geology and mineralization to an area of approximately 1 kilometer by 3.5 kilometers, which is more than three-times the size of the current resource areas. Historical wide-spaced drilling in this newly defined area have returned numerous above-cutoff (2 g/t Aueq) intercepts of gold and silver. The Company anticipates completing an additional 5,000 to 10,000 meters of drilling to test these areas which could result in a significant expansion of the resource areas of Wood Gulch and Gravel Creek.

ABOUT DOBY GEORGE

Doby George is one of the highest-grade, undeveloped open pit heap leach resources in Nevada and one of three mineral deposits on Western Exploration's 100% owned Aura Project. The Aura Project is located 32 kilometers north of the Jerritt Canyon mine, which has been in continual operation since 1981. The deposit is an outcropping, high-grade sediment-hosted mineral deposit, with multiple zones of mineralization identified by drilling in a 1.7 x 0.8 km area (see Figure 4 below). The zone of oxidation extends 150 to 200 meters below surface, while limited deep drilling has encountered unoxidized gold mineralization at depths of over 600 meters below surface.

Homestake Mining Company initially discovered the deposit in the mid-1980s. Since that time, 836 drill holes have been completed, totaling 116,355 meters of drilling. This includes 83 drill holes totaling 23,760 meters that were drilled by Western Exploration LLC between 1998 and 2022. Metallurgical test work completed on oxidized material by Homestake Mining Company, Independence Mining Company, and Atlas Precious Metals Inc., has indicated favorable metallurgy for standard cyanide heap leach processing. Results from the previous metallurgical testing completed on 52 bottle rolls and 23 column leach samples indicate that heap leach gold recoveries approaching seventy percent can be expected via a crush of 1 to 1.5 inches.

In addition to an established mineral resource estimate (as determined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101")), the Aura Project has well established infrastructure including year-round accessibility by highway and county-maintained road and nearby access to water and electricity (see Figure 5 below). Western Exploration has exploration, development, and mining rights on 930 hectares of privately owned fee lands through a mineral lease agreement with a local landowner and may purchase those fee lands at any time for the development of Doby George.

The 6,000-hectare Aura Project is unique in the junior mining space, as resources have been identified in three different deposits (Doby George, Gravel Creek and Wood Gulch), as supported by the Technical Report (see Table 3 below).

Table 3. Updated resource estimates for the Aura Project as contained in the Technical Report

Notes:

1. Au equivalent oz assumes US$1,800 per oz Au and 70:1 ratio of Ag:Au.
2. Pit constrained 0.2 g/t AuEq cutoff for oxide, 0.4 g/t Au cutoff for mixed and 1.4 g/t Au cutoff for unoxidized.
3. Pit constrained 0.2 g/t AuEq cutoff.
4. 3.0 g/t Au cutoff.

About Western Exploration

Born from a 25-year history of advancing exploration projects in Nevada as a private company, today Western Exploration is composed of an experienced team of precious metals experts that aims to lead Western Exploration to becoming a premiere gold and silver development company in North America. The Company's principal asset is the 100% owned Aura gold-silver project, located approximately 120 kilometers/75 miles north of the city of Elko, Nevada, and includes three unique gold and silver deposits: Doby George, Gravel Creek, and Wood Gulch. Additional information regarding Western Exploration and the Aura Project can be found on the Company's website and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under the Company's issuer profile.

Qualified Person Approval

The scientific and technical content in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mark Hawksworth, General Manager of Western Exploration's Aura Project, who is a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101.

Quality Assurance – Quality Control

Drill program design, Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") and the interpretation of results is performed by qualified persons employing a QA/QC program consistent with NI 43-101 and industry best practices.

Drill core samples were delivered by Major Drilling to Western Exploration's secure warehouse/logging facility in Mountain City and washed, photographed and logged by company geologists. Quality control (QC) samples are inserted at regular intervals in the sample stream, including blanks, core duplicates and reference materials with all sample shipments to monitor laboratory performance.

Drill core samples are transported by Neilsen Exploration to McClelland Laboratory Inc. located in Sparks, Nevada, for sample preparation and analysis. Each interval is removed from the core box, weighed and crushed using a jaw-crusher to an approximately 2" top size. The crushed interval is blended by repeated coning and is quartered to obtain a one-quarter split for finer crush. Each one-quarter split is crushed to 10 mesh (2 mm) and split to obtain 0.25 – 0.50 kg for pulverization. For fire assays, the 0.25 kg split is pulverized to >95%-150 mesh (106µm). Analysis for gold and silver is completed using a 30-gram fire assay with AA finish. For the CN soluble tests, A 10-gram aliquot of sample (>95%-106 µm) is leached by shaking in a 50 mL test tube for 1 hour, at ambient temperature and 33.3% solids, using a solution of NaCN (5.0 gpL) and pH > 11.0 using NaOH. The solution is separated by centrifuging. Clear solution is analyzed by AA for gold.

Please see below under the heading "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information" for further details regarding the risks facing Western Exploration.

For additional information on the Aura Project, please see the Technical Report, which has been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, a copy of which is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Western Exploration's issuer profile and on Western Exploration's corporate website (www.westernexploration.com).

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release may contain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements, by their nature, require the Company to make certain assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Any statement that involves predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often, but not always, using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", "management's view", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "potential", "feasibility", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. This news release contains the forward-looking information pertaining to, among other things: the focus and results of the Phase 1 drill program; the Doby George deposit being located in one of the most favourable mining jurisdictions in the world; Doby George being one of the highest grade, underdeveloped open pit heap leach resource in northeast Nevada; the accuracy of results from prior exploration activities conducted at the Aura Project; the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate the mineral resource estimate disclosed in this news release; the prospects, if any, of the Doby George, Wood Gulch and Gravel Creek mineral deposits; future drilling at the Aura Project; the significance of historic exploration activities and results; the ability to advance the Aura Project to Pre-Feasibility level; the ability to complete metallurgical test work and commence the preparation of a Pre-Feasibility study within the timelines described herein (if at all); and the ability to expand the existing mineral resources at the Aura Project. Such factors include, among others, risks relating to the ability of exploration activities (including drill results) to accurately predict mineralization; errors in management's geological modelling; the ability of Western Exploration to complete further exploration activities, including drilling; property and royalty interests in respect of the Aura Project; the ability of the Company to obtain required approvals; the results of exploration activities; risks relating to mining activities; the global economic climate; metal prices; dilution; environmental risks; and community and non-governmental actions. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, Western Exploration cannot assure shareholders and prospective purchasers of securities of the Company that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither Western Exploration nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward-looking information. Western Exploration does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law.

This release uses the terms "mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources". Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. You should not assume that all or any part of measured or indicated mineral resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves. Further, inferred mineral resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. On October 31, 2018, the SEC adopted new mining disclosure rules ("S-K 1300") that are more closely aligned with current industry and global regulatory practices and standards, including NI 43-101, although there are some differences in the two standards. Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits contain in this release may not be comparable with information made public by U.S. companies that report in accordance with S-K 1300.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward‐looking statements and forward-looking information made in this news release concerning Western Exploration, see the management information circular dated November 12, 2021, available electronically under Western Exploration's issuer profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). The forward-looking statements set forth herein concerning Western Exploration reflect management's expectations as at the date of this news release and are subject to change after such date. Western Exploration disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.