Mr. Ross McLellan reports

WESTERN GOLD ANNOUNCES NEW PORPHYRY CENTRE DEVELOPING WEST OF LAGALOCHAN

Western Gold Exploration Ltd. has released results from the first phase of surface sampling and reassay of historic drilling on its Ardlochan prospect in Argyll, Scotland. The prospect lies along a prospective and largely untested geological corridor, termed the Lorne fault zone, which promoted mineralization within the Lorne porphyry complex, such as at Ardlochan and Lagalochan (see the technical report, as defined and detailed below). The company currently owns the crown minerals lease for the entire Lorne porphyry complex and possesses exclusive land-access agreements with approximately 70 per cent of the land ownership.

Highlights:

• A total of 201 outcrop rock-chip, backpack drill and pitting samples displaying a large range of porphyry-related mineralization styles were collected and assayed.
• The highest-grade copper sample assayed 2.59 per cent copper (Cu) and 5.98 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au), within stockwork veined porphyry.
• The highest-grade gold sample assayed 16.2 g/t Au and 0.61 per cent Cu, within an epithermal-style fracture zone.
• The highest-grade molybdenum sample assayed 0.42 per cent molybdenum (Mo), within pegmatitic granodiorite.
• A total of 533 ionic leach (IL) soil samples were collected, confirming or even extending anomalous areas of elevated Cu-Mo-Au identified from rock sampling.
• The company is ramping up for future shallow-surface diamond drilling and geophysics.

"These new exploration results define an extensive area of consistent copper gold molybdenum mineralization at a new prospect some eight kilometres west of the company's Lagalochan porphyry prospect," commented Harry Dobson, chairman. "These finds indicate other areas of porphyry related mineralization occur within the Lorne intrusive complex and the company looks forward to continuing to develop these prospects further."

The Ardlochan prospect, located approximately eight km west of Lagalochan, was the subject of historic exploration in 1972 by a Noranda Exploration Ltd. & Phelps Dodge Ltd. joint venture (JV), almost 10 years prior to exploratory work at Lagalochan.

Exploration was furthered by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in 1977 as part of their nation-wide mineral reconnaissance program. The most anomalous copper-gold grades were obtained from streams draining the Ardlochan site during BGS sampling. In response, the BGS drilled two diamond drill holes totalling 365 metres (m). Historic drilling highlights included 17.8 m at 0.14 per cent Cu, indicating drilling efforts may have clipped the edge of a porphyry stockwork centre. Gold was never comprehensively assayed.

The company was granted partial access to approximately 31 m of historic core from the BGS archives. Reassay of the limited sample set revealed a moderate correlation between new and historic assay results for copper and the presence of sporadic gold, although the results are not conclusive.

Results -- rock sampling

A detailed campaign of geological mapping and surface sampling, including 101 rock chips, 47 backpack drill core (from 31 sites) and 53 pit (from 44 pits), cumulatively totalling 201 samples. This identified several copper, gold and molybdenum bearing mineralized zones of quartz veining and brecciation dispersed across the Ardlochan property.

Backpack drilling displayed shallow-level grade continuity over metre scale intervals, eliminating any anticipated grab-sample related bias. For example:

• 2.7 m at 1.05 g/t Au and 0.12 per cent Cu;
• 1.5 m at 0.45 g/t Au and 0.15 per cent Cu;
• 1.5 m at 0.36 per cent Cu;
• 2.5 m at 0.25 per cent Cu.

All rock samples were taken in-situ from either surface outcrops (rock-chip and backpack drill) or from beneath thick peat cover (pit) where necessary. Samples give an indication of the mineralogical composition and grade of near-surface mineralization at Ardlochan.

Results -- soil sampling

A new, detailed IL soil sampling grid at 100-metre-by-100-metre resolution and including 533 samples has been conducted over 2023. This identified and closed-off several anomalies indicative of a concealed, concentric porphyry centre and zones of fault-bound epithermal mineralization at Ardlochan.

About Western Gold Exploration Ltd.

The company is a mineral exploration company that is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol WGLD. The company is focused on the exploration of mineral properties in Scotland and discovering new opportunities across the underexplored Caledonian Appalachian and identifying locations of gold and critical metal deposits. The company's principal focus is its Lorne project, which includes the Lagalochan copper gold porphyry property located in Argyll, Scotland, and the adjacent and nearby properties along the Lorne fault zone.

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