Mr. Ross McLellan reports

WESTERN GOLD SECURES LAND ACCESS AGREEMENT WITH FORESTRY & LAND SCOTLAND FOR CALEDONIAN GOLD PROJECT

Western Gold Exploration Ltd. has secured an exclusive land access agreement with Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), covering approximately 95 square kilometres (km) within its Orchy Crown Estates licence application, unlocking this ground for active exploration. The agreement forms part of the Glen Lyon joint venture (JV) with Acrux Gold, owner of the Cononish mine -- Scotland's only producing gold and silver mine. Western Gold operates the JV and holds a 90-per-cent interest during the exploration phase.

"This agreement marks another significant milestone for the Caledonian gold project," commented Harry Dobson, chairman. "The forestry ground sits along the same Tyndrum fault corridor responsible for gold mineralization at the neighbouring Cononish mine. With multiple high-grade veins identified, we look forward to advancing systematic exploration across the Orchy area and prioritizing the most compelling targets for future drill testing."

Expanded land position

The FLS agreement brings the company's total land access across the Caledonian gold project to approximately 225 square km, incorporating both the Glen Orchy and Lyon licence applications. The Glen Orchy ground is underlain by the same Tyndrum fault corridor responsible for gold mineralization at the Cononish mine, with multiple high-grade gold bearing veins identified across the area (see the company's Feb. 25 and April 29 news releases).

Orchy exploration potential

Within the 95 square km now accessible under the FLS agreement, prior exploration has identified multiple high-grade gold veins and polymetallic breccia pipes across the area. Historical grab samples returned up to 383.2 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au)* in outcrop and up to 358.9 g/t Au* in float. Recent grab sampling by the company has confirmed high-grade gold assays, including up to 95.9 g/t Au* at River Vein and up to 43.7 g/t Au* and 2,260 g/t silver (Ag)* at Beinn Udlaidh NE. Numerous targets remain undrilled, with gold-bearing structures from limited historical drilling programs remaining open along strike. The company believes the Glen Orchy area remains significantly underexplored relative to its demonstrated potential.

* Note: Grab samples are inherently selective and may not reflect the true grade of the mineralization, although they are taken from exposed outcrop. Float samples, by contrast, consist of transported material that is not in situ and therefore act only as indicators of potential nearby mineralization.

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 gold, silver and critical minerals in Scotland.

In November, 2025, Western Gold formed the Glen Lyon joint venture with Acrux Gold to explore for gold, silver and critical minerals as part of the Caledonian gold project in central Scotland. The JV has applied for two Crown Estates Mines royal option agreements (exploration licences) across the Tyndrum mineral district, specifically the Orchy and Lyon licence areas, which form the Caledonian gold project. The company also operates at the Lorne project, which includes both Lagalochan and Ardlochan prospects, and is located in the highly prospective Lorne porphyry district of the wider Caledonian belt.

Review by qualified person, quality control and reports

David Pym (CGeol), a consultant of the company, is the qualified person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101) who supervised, verified and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release on behalf of the company. The results presented in this news release are from the company's own sampling and provide an important validation of historical assays quoted in previous news releases. Historical assay results have not been checked consistently against assay certificates, nor is there significant QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) information available.

Rock chip material was collected from in-situ outcrops, as well as float found within burns and scree slopes. Each sample was crushed, split and pulverized prior to analysis. Multielement geochemistry (48 elements, including silver and base metals) was determined using a four-acid digestion followed by ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) analysis (method ME-MS61L). Gold was assayed using a 30-gram fire assay with an ICP-MS finish, providing a detection limit of 0.005 part per million (ppm) (Au-AA23).

All analytical work was undertaken by ALS Global, Ireland. ALS Geochemistry laboratories operate under a unified global geochemistry quality manual in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and use a global laboratory information management system (LIMS) to ensure consistent, high-quality and reproducible analytical results.

We seek Safe Harbor.