Mr. Darcy Marud reports

WESTERN EXPLORATION OUTLINES 2026 PROGRAM TO ADVANCE DOBY GEORGE PERMITTING AND EXPAND GRAVEL CREEK RESOURCES

Western Exploration Inc. has outlined its planned 2026 exploration and development activities at its Doby George and Gravel Creek projects in northeastern Nevada.

2026 program overview

Western Exploration's 2026 program is designed to advance Doby George through engineering and permitting activities while continuing to accelerate exploration targeting and resource expansion across the Gravel Creek-Wood Gulch district.

At Doby George, the company has engaged Kappes, Cassiday and Associates (KCA) and Stantec Consulting Ltd. as its primary consultants to support the development planning. Baseline studies and permitting have commenced and will continue through the second quarter of 2027. Western Exploration plans to submit a mine plan of operations to its sole permitting authority, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), in the second quarter of 2026.

Infill and expansion drilling aimed at converting inferred resources and expanding known oxide mineralization will be completed by year-end. Further, detailed engineering and a prefeasibility study (PFS) are expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2027 and a full environmental study should be completed by midyear 2027. All of the engineering, drilling and permitting work for 2026 and 2027 is now fully financed.

At Gravel Creek, the company is active on a number of fronts in preparation for the 2026 drill season. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting a study on the genesis and formation of the Gravel Creek deposit. The study is expected to be completed in March, 2026, which is designed to assist the company to better understand the ore controls of mineralization and add focus to the resource expansion effort. In addition, the company is completing an artificial intelligence evaluation of alteration and geochemistry, which is expected to be completed by the end of March, 2026. GeoMax of Denver, Colo., will incorporate this new information into a comprehensive 3-D model, which will refine the company's current geological models and accelerate discovery targeting across the district. An updated model and concurrent drill plan derived from this work are anticipated to be ready in May, 2026.

Darcy Marud, president and chief executive officer of Western Exploration, commented: "We are on our way to permitting at Doby George with contracts in place for engineering, baseline studies and permitting with the USFS. Plans are being prepared to take advantage of the private fee land and potentially accelerate site work (including power and water development) in 2027. At Gravel Creek, we have taken a discovery made by Western Exploration to a resource of more than 800,000 ounces gold and 14 million ounces silver. The current work with our partners is designed to accelerate the discovery process and outline a drill plan to double the Gravel Creek resource."

2025 Doby George preliminary economic assessment (PEA)

In 2025, the company published a PEA for Western Exploration's Doby George deposit at the Aura project in Nevada, which outlines a potential open-pit, heap-leach gold operation with strong economics and relatively modest capital requirements. Using a base gold price of $2,150 (U.S.) per ounce, the study estimates an after-tax net present value (discounted at 5 per cent) of $70.7-million (U.S.) and an internal rate of return of 25.4 per cent, while an upside scenario at $3,000 (U.S.) per ounce gold increases the after-tax NPV to $211.2-million (U.S.) and the IRR to 62.2 per cent. According to the PEA, the project is expected to generate approximately $271-million (U.S.) in after-tax life-of-mine cash flow over a five-year mine life, with average annual operating cash flow of about $112-million (U.S.), a payback period of less than 18 months in the higher-gold-price scenario and preproduction capital of about $115-million (U.S.). Life-of-mine all-in sustaining costs are estimated at roughly $1,152 (U.S.) to $1,197 (U.S.) per ounce, supporting the potential for strong margins and positioning Doby George as a low-capital, rapid-payback development opportunity. See below under the heading "Scientific and technical information."

The mineral resource estimate forming part of the PEA is reproduced below.

About Western Exploration Inc.

Western Exploration is advancing the 100-per-cent-owned Aura project, located approximately 120 kilometres/75 miles north of the city of Elko, Nev. The Aura project includes three unique gold and silver deposits: Doby George, Gravel Creek and Wood Gulch. Western Exploration comprises an experienced team of precious metals experts that aims to lead the company to becoming North America's premiere gold and silver development company.

Scientific and technical information

The scientific and technical content in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mark Hawksworth, general manager of the Western Exploration's Aura project, who is a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

The PEA is more particularly described in the technical report entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Doby George Deposits and Updated Resource Estimate for the Gravel Creek Gold-Silver Deposits, Aura Gold-Silver Project, Elko County, Nevada" and dated Oct. 1, 2025, as amended (with an effective June 17, 2025), which was prepared for Western Exploration.

The PEA was prepared by independent representatives of KCA and Respec Company LLC, each of whom is a qualified person (within the meaning of NI 43-101) and independent of Western Exploration for purposes of Section 1.5 of NI 43-101. At the effective date of the PEA, each qualified person has certified that, to the best of his knowledge, information and belief, the parts of the PEA for which he was responsible contain all scientific and technical information required to be disclosed to make the PEA not misleading. The affiliation and areas of responsibility for each qualified person involved in preparing the PEA are provided below:

• Travis Manning, PE, of KCA -- processing design and costs, metallurgy, recovery and cash flow;
• Michael S. Lindholm, CPG, of Respec -- geology, database and mineral resource estimate;
• Kyle Murphy, PE, of Respec -- open-pit design, mine planning, scheduling and costing.

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