Vancouver, British Columbia — January 6, 2026 — Leads & Copy — Western Exploration Inc. (TSXV: WEX)(OTCQX: WEXPF) has announced results from four additional reverse circulation (RC) holes drilled down dip of the Saddle Resource in the Tomasina target, about one kilometer west of Gravel Creek at the company’s Aura gold-silver project.
Drilling Program Highlights:
The drilling program confirmed widespread clay and silica alteration, with local quartz-pyrite-marcasite veins in both the Frost Creek tuff and underlying Schoonover Formation, confirming the presence of an extensive hydrothermal alteration system extending at least 300 meters below the Saddle Zone resource, 1.0 kilometer west of the Gravel Creek resource. Broad zones within the altered areas are highly anomalous in gold and silver.
Highlights include:
1.52 meters of 3.24 g/t Au and 71.1 g/t Ag within 19.81 meters @ 0.45 g/t Au and 11.1 g/t Ag in WG468
1.52 meters of 4.68 g/t Au and 10.0 g/t Ag within 15.24 meters @ 0.86 g/t Au and 4.1 g/t Ag in WG471
Intervals of greater than 3.0 g/t Au (up to 10.90 g/t Au and 308.0 g/t Ag) have been intersected on five widely spaced sections testing portions of a 1.5 kilometer long trend that is open in all directions.
The overall results from the 2025 RC drill program justify further drilling along the +2.5-kilometer-long Tomasina Trend. Key areas that remain to be tested include:
The highly prospective 500 meter-long “GAP Zone” down dip from the Wood Gulch Pit area, which is bracketed by holes WG467 (3.0 meters @ 7.1 g/t Au) and WG360 (1.52 meters @ 7.28 g/t Au);
The entire Hammer Head target (southeast of the alteration plume in WG463 and the chargeability anomalies in Line 2023 IP Line 5.
Western Exploration CEO Darcy Marud said the 2025 drilling expands the known epithermal alteration zone an additional 1.0 kilometer west of Gravel Creek and has now identified an epithermal footprint of at least 7.0 kilometers by 2.4 kilometers in size through drilling, surface sampling and mapping. He added the company is encouraged by first pass drill results from the deep extension of the Tomasina Fault Zone and that drilling on wide-spaced centers has intersected +3.0 g/t Au mineralization on 5 sections along a 1.5 kilometer strike length of the Tomasina Fault Zone.
Marud said additional drilling of the 2.5-kilometer-long Tomasina structural corridor, including the highly prospective GAP zone down dip from the Wood Gulch Pit area and the Hammer Head target, will be prioritized in conjunction with 2026 Gravel Creek-Jarbidge drill targeting and all near term exploration will be focused on the areas with highest potential for resource expansion.
The Tomasina target is a 2.5-kilometer-long structural zone down dip of the mineral resources in Saddle and Wood Gulch and the zone of mineralization at Hammer Head. The 2025 drill objective was to evaluate mineralization in the Tomasina Fault corridor down dip from near surface resource areas, both within the favorable Frost Creek tuff (main host rock at Gravel Creek), and below the Eocene unconformity in the underlying basement Schoonover Formation.
The four RC drill holes (WG468-WG471) reported in this release evaluated targets 150 to 300 meters down dip from the Saddle resource.
Holes WG468 and WG469 were drilled on section T5210 down dip from the Saddle Zone. Hole WG468 intersected a zone of significant quartz-pyrite +/- marcasite veining approximately 190 meters down dip, which averaged 19.81 meters @ 0.45 g/t Au and 11.0 g/t Ag, including 1.52 meters @ 3.24 g/t Au and 71.1 g/t Ag. Hole WG469 was designed to test the faulted contact with the Frost Creek tuff. Due to deviation, the hole essentially missed the target should be redrilled further to the NE.
Holes WG470 and WG471 were drilled down dip of the Saddle zone on section T5120N. Hole WG470 was designed to evaluate the faulted contact with the Frost Creek tuff. The entire interval was clay +/- silica altered with local quartz-sulfide stringers, averaging 24.38 meters @ 0.26 g/t Au and 3.2 g/t Ag. Hole WG471 was designed to offset the vein zone intersected in WG468, as well as evaluate the extension of the Saddle resource zone approximately 300 meters down dip from known mineralization. Variable amounts of quartz +/-pyrite +/- marcasite veining were noted within bleached and locally silicified argillite of the Schoonover Formation. The strongest results included 1.52 meters @ 4.68 g/t Au and 10.0 g/t Ag (within a broader interval grading 15.24 meters @ 0.86 g/t Au and 4.1 g/t Ag) and a second interval of 4.57 meters @ 1.62 g/t Au and 15.5 g/t Ag.
The 2025 RC drilling confirmed that significant hydrothermal alteration and local quartz-pyrite-marcasite veining extends along at least a 1.5 kilometer strike length of the Tomasina Fault Zone, 1.0 kilometer west of the Gravel Creek area. Based on mapping, geochemical sampling and drill hole observations, the area of hydrothermal alteration through the Wood Gulch-Gravel Creek area has expanded to a zone nearly 7.0 kilometer long and up to 2.4 kilometer wide. Although the alteration zone generally follows a north-south trend, it is strongly influenced by northwest and northeast trending structures, with the Tomasina Fault, GC Fault and strong northeast trending density anomaly under Gravel Creek as examples.
The presence of highly anomalous to local higher-grade Au-Ag values gives justification for additional evaluation of the +2.5 kilometer long Tomasina structural corridor. Future drilling should focus on structural zones in contact with the Frost Creek tuff and the Schoonover unconformity. Key areas that remain to be tested include: 1) the highly prospective 500m-long “GAP Zone” down dip from the Wood Gulch Pit area, which is bracketed by holes WG467 (3.0 meters @ 7.1 g/t Au) and WG360 (1.52 meters @ 7.28 g/t Au); and 2) the entire Hammer Head target (south-east of the alteration plume in WG463 and the chargeability anomalies in Line 2023 IP Line 5). These target areas will be prioritized in conjunction with 2026 Gravel Creek-Jarbidge drill targeting, focusing on the highest priority areas with resource growth potential.
Darcy Marud, CEO, can be reached at 775-329-8119 or dmarud@westernexploration.com.
Nichole Cowles, Investor Relations, can be reached at 775-240-4172 or nicholecowles@westernexploration.com
Source: Western Exploration
