Mr. Ross McLellan reports

WESTERN GOLD PROVIDES INITIAL DATA ON CALEDONIAN GOLD JOINT VENTURE AREAS, CURRENTLY UNDER APPLICATION, WHERE MULTIPLE HIGH-GRADE GOLD VEINS HAVE BEEN RECORDED

Western Gold Exploration Ltd. has provided further details about its recently created joint venture (the JV) with Acrux Gold Ltd. to explore for gold, silver and critical minerals as part of the Caledonian gold project in central Scotland (see the company's Nov. 25, 2025, press release). Acrux Gold is the new owner of the Cononish gold mine.

A comprehensive review of historical exploration data within the JV area is continuing using public file data. As part of the JV, Acrux Gold is supplying regional data sets dating back to the 1980s with extensive coverage within the JV area. Some initial observations from historical reports and press releases highlight the potential of the area.

Glen Orchy area was the focus of limited historic exploration by Ennex International during the 1980s, and Scotgold Resources in the 2010s. Historical reports indicate numerous gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered. Some of the most notable historical assays, taken by handheld diamond winky drill and grab samples, include:

• Beinn Udlaidh vein: which can be traced for over two-kilometre strike in strike length and is up to 20 metres wide. Best samples include:
  • 7.5 metres at 4.1 g/t Au from surface, including 0.5 m at 19.2 g/t (grams per tonne) Au;
  • Rock chip grab samples up to 73.2 g/t Au.
• River vein: Several chip grab samples greater than 100 g/t Au, up to 383.2 g/t Au.

The Lyon area seems comparatively underexplored, with historic data limited in extent. Scotgold Resources handheld diamond winky drilling included the following:

• Coire a'Ghabhalach vein: 1.0 m at 25.5 g/t Au and 2.1 m at 15.3 g/t Au, from surface;
• Creag Sheileach: 1.0 m at 25.46 g/t Au, from surface.

Note: grab samples are selective in nature and should not be interpreted as representative of the economic potential of the area, winky drill samples are best viewed as equivalent to a rock channel sample rather than a drill hole, see Table 1.

Crown licence applications. Glen Lyon Ltd. (the JV Co.), has applied for two Crown estate mines royal option agreements (exploration licences) in the Glen Orchy and Lyon areas, which would provide exclusive rights in those areas to explore for gold and silver and include an option to apply for future mining leases. The licence areas cover major fault zones known to host gold, silver and critical metal mineralization, and are situated within a historic Pb-Zn (lead-zinc) mining district, highlighting strong polymetallic potential. Crown estate licensing operates on a first-come, first-served basis, and as the JV is the first and sole applicant, formal approval of the Glen Orchy and Lyon licences (totalling 500 square kilometres) is expected in the near term. In addition, the JV has also secured an approximately 130 square km surface rights agreement, providing an immediate operational footprint for early exploration. The licence area applications are located approximately 40 km northeast of the company's Lorne Cu-Au porphyry project, which includes the Lagalochan and Ardlochan prospects.

Table 1. Historic results and geospatial data for winky drill and rock-chip grab samples from Glen Orchy and Lyon. Co-ordinates in BNG.

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 and its subsidiaries are focused on the exploration of mineral properties in Scotland and discovering new opportunities across the underexplored Caledonian-Appalachian belt in order to identify locations of gold and critical metal deposits. The company's focus has expanded to include the Caledonian gold project in addition to 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. The Caledonian gold project lies within one of Scotland's most prospective mineral belts and is adjacent to Scotland's only gold mine, the Cononish gold mine, operated by JV partners Acrux Gold.

On Nov. 29, 2022, the company filed a National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects compliant, independent technical report on the Lagalochan property. The technical report and additional information about the company are available on SEDAR+ under the company's profile and on the company's website.

Review by qualified person, quality control and reports

David Pym (CGeol), a consultant of the company, is the qualified person (QP) (as defined by National Instrument 43-101) who supervised, verified, and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this press release on behalf of the company. The historical data supplied in this press release has not been verified by the QP but is taken from Australian Securities Exchange news releases and public filed reports. No assay certificates have been reviewed but the QP has located several of the historical winky drill sites and verified their locations.

We seek Safe Harbor.