WEX.V · 2023-03-06 12:00:00

WESTERN EXPLORATION ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL EXPLORATION RESULTS AT GRAVEL CREEK Focusing Exploration on High Grade Gold Silver Veins

Exploration Programs

WESTERN EXPLORATION ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL EXPLORATION RESULTS AT GRAVEL CREEK

Focusing Exploration on High Grade Gold Silver Veins

Vancouver, British Columbia – March 6, 2023 – Western Ex ploration Inc. (TSXV: WE X; OTCQX: WEXPF) (the

"Company" or " Western Exploration ") is pleased to announce the results of its surface exploration work

program on the Gravel Creek resource area of the Aura Project.

Highlights from the work include:

• Rock geochemistry and detailed st ructural mapping completed in 2022 support the concept of NE-

trending structures as a secondary ore control to the Gravel Creek system, which were noted in 2020

oriented core.

• An area with multiple high-grade Au-Ag vein intercepts of up to 40.05 g/t Au and 1,951 g/t Ag in the

overlying felsic volcanic rocks will be targeted fo r drilling, focusing on NE trending structural zones

with potential to expand resources.

• Au-Ag-As-Sb-Mo anomalies in soil and rock geochemistry occur up to 2.0 kilometers to the NE of the

Gravel Creek resource, further extending the exploration potential.

Western Exploration CEO, Darcy Marud, said, "Western Exploration has long believed in the potential to

greatly expand resources within the Wood Gulch/Grave l Creek mineralized system, and this data gives us

additional confidence for drilling in the upcoming field season. The integration of structural alteration and

geochemical data with the oriented core from ho le WG450 has brought a greater understanding of the

controls on the high-grade veins in the Jarbidge rhyolite overlying and peripheral to the Gravel Creek deposit.

Oriented core is planned to verify structural trends a nd continuity of mineralization, with the ultimate goal

of adding the known mineralization into the projec t resource base. The data also gives us further

encouragement to continue to evaluate the Gravel Creek resource area for new areas of mineralization."

Multiple High Grade Gold and Silver Vein Drill Intercepts above and Peripheral to the Gravel Creek

Deposit

Previous drilling, as reported in the Company's current technical report, titled "2021 Updated Resource

Estimates and Technical Report For the Aura Gold-Silver Project, Elko County, Nevada" dated October 20,

2021 (with an effective date of October 14, 2021) (the " Technical Report"), has intersected multiple Au-Ag

bearing vein intercepts in the Miocene Jarbidge volc anics overlying and lateral to the Gravel Creek deposit

(see Tables 1 and 2), with grades up to 40.05 g/t Au and 1,951 g/t Ag. A cross section through the deposit

shows intercepts of over 30.0 g/t AuEq in the Jarbidge rhyolite lie between the 1,500 and 1,750 meter

elevation range, which corresponds to best grades in the main resource zone in the Frost Creek tuff (see

Figure 1). None of these Jarbidge-hosted intercepts h ave been included in previous resource calculations,

due to the uncertainty of orientation.

One core hole drilled in 2020 was angled SE to NW to test for the presence of NE trending vein zones within

the Jarbidge rhyolite. Hole WG450 was drilled 190 meters NE of the Gravel Creek resource and intersected

three high grade vein zones, carrying 1.52 meters at 4.07 g/t Au and 363 g/t Ag, 1.83 meters at 7.22 g/t Au

and 334. 3 g/t Ag, and 0.3 meters at 37.1 g/t Au and 1,951 g/t Ag (see Table 2). The second intercept, as well

as four smaller quartz-pyrite-marcasite vein zones, had strikes of N45-68E with dips from 65-90NW.

Table 1. Summary of historic +5.0 g/t AuEq intercepts in the Jarbidge rhyolite, sorted by elevation. The

intercepts (+30.0 g/t AuEq) lie between the 1,500 and 1,750-meter elev ations. The drill results are reported

in the Technical Report. True widths are currently unknown but estimated to be between 25% and 75% of drill

widths.

Hole Elevation

(m)

From

(m)

Drill Width

(m)

g/t

AuEq g/t

(70:1)

WG448 2175 234.57 235.58 1.01 6.87 177.0 9.40

WG377 1941 239.27 242.32 3.05 6.19 69.3 7.18

WG376 1922 269.75 271.27 1.52 13.25 18.7 13.52

WG450 1910 226.47 227.99 1.52 4.07 363.0 9.26

WG450 1886 254.20 256.03 1.83 7.22 334.3 12.00

WG427 1840 376.43 377.95 1.52 8.39 79.1 9.52

WG422 1828 385.57 388.61 3.04 7.49 304.4 11.84

WG417 1758 440.44 443.48 3.04 40.05 1144.0 56.39

WG450 1746 409.93 410.23 0.30 37.10 1951.0 64.97

WG374 1733 466.34 467.87 1.53 15.40 15.7 15.62

WG379 1712 480.06 489.20 9.14 41.55 130.8 43.42

WG374 1710 487.68 495.30 7.62 25.60 75.2 26.67

WG434 1707 477.01 478.74 1.73 13.05 480.0 19.91

WG434 1692 490.73 493.78 3.05 12.02 549.0 19.86

WG377 1647 541.02 542.54 1.52 24.30 1655.0 47.94

WG377 1621 563.88 565.40 1.52 26.00 713.0 36.19

WG401 1620 562.36 563.88 1.52 12.65 384.0 18.14

WG434 1617 568.45 569.98 1.53 5.53 1.1 5.55

WG377 1608 576.07 577.60 1.53 11.25 385.0 16.75

WG401 1606 576.07 577.60 1.53 5.12 74.8 6.19

WG445 1602 612.95 615.39 2.44 35.60 28.6 36.01

WG434 1597 588.26 590.40 2.14 29.65 900.2 42.51

WG377 1584 603.50 608.80 5.30 23.36 799.2 34.78

WG401 1547 635.51 638.56 3.05 5.68 25.7 6.05

Table 2. Collar coordinates for Gravel Creek holes referenced in Table 1.

Hole East North Elev Azimuth Dip Depth (m) Type

WG374 587,182 4,616,091 2,183 263.1 -66 646.2 RC

WG376 587,239 4,616,231 2,193 253.2 -90 830.6 RC

WG377 587,194 4,616,092 2,182 101.5 -89 780.3 RC

WG379 587,179 4,616,191 2,196 220.3 -90 698.0 RC

WG401 587,181 4,616,094 2,182 270.2 -85 968.4 RC/Core

WG417 587,302 4,616,299 2,197 274.0 -81 898.3 RC/Core

WG422 586,825 4,616,100 2,167 90.7 -58 623.6 RC/Core

WG427 587,182 4,616,351 2,198 270.7 -71 893.7 Core

WG434 587,351 4,616,160 2,175 237.3 -78 985.9 Core

WG445 587,223 4,616,266 2,195 231.4 -73 821.9 Core

WG448 587,303 4,616,130 2,176 241.7 -66 669.8 Core

WG450 587,536 4,616,045 2,110 292.5 -60 691.9 Core

UTM Coordinates NAD83, Zone 11

Figure 1. Cross section through Gravel Creek deposit, highlig hting +5.0 g/t Au intercepts in legacy holes in

the Miocene Jarbidge rhyolite overlying/adjacent to the Gravel Creek deposit area. Potential NE-trending

structures with intercepts between the 1,500 and 1,750 meter elevations will be targeted with oriented core

drilling in the upcoming field season.

Additional Geochemistry and Structural Mapping at Gravel Creek

Rock geochemistry and detailed stru ctural mapping completed in 2022 on Discovery Hill above the Gravel

Creek resource area provides additional evidence s upporting the concept of NE-trending structures as a

secondary ore control to the Gravel Creek system. Systematic mapping and sampling of veins and

hydrothermal breccia dikes on Discovery Hill, approx imately 400 meters vertically above the Gravel Creek

deposit, has shown that mineralized samples show a strong preferred orientat ion of N50-85E/235-265SW,

dipping over 80 degrees to the NW or SE (see Table 3 and Figure 2).

Table 3. Select 2022 Rock Geochemical Results from Gravel Creek Discovery Hill and NE Badger areas*. A

complete list of assays is included in Appendix 1.

AREA Sample #

ppm

Ag/Au

ratio As ppm

ppm

ppm Azimuth * Dip

DISCOVERY

HILL

AU22-172 0.87 23.8 27 904 34 6 50 90

AU22-136 0.80 31.3 39 452 43 4 50 80

AU22-144 0.52 48.2 93 334 87 7 50 80

AU22-169 0.70 22.1 32 630 85 14 55 75

AU22-140 0.50 28.8 57 358 92 6 60 90

AU22-146 0.67 41.7 63 625 156 8 65 90

AU22-177 0.68 15.6 23 753 50 5 75 90

AU22-170 0.98 92.2 94 781 186 160 85 80

AU22-135 1.12 59.1 53 370 71 5 155 80

AU22-141 0.55 34.4 63 532 81 8 235 80

AU22-178 0.59 15.7 27 592 49 5 250 75

AU22-182 0.54 22.3 41 792 45 5 255 80

AU22-162 0.53 24.5 47 217 33 11 265 80

AU22-159 0.66 21.7 33 456 92 12 270 85

AU22-174 0.60 19.4 32 636 59 17 320 75

AU22-155 0.57 17.9 31 443 80 226 325 40

AU22-143 0.60 37.6 63 547 111 7 335 90

AU22-142 0.59 42.7 72 446 147 8 350 70

* Samples > 0.5 ppm Au, sorted by Azimuth (full set of sample assays in Appendix 1)

AREA Sample #

ppm

Ag/Au

ratio As ppm

ppm

N. BADGER

781634 0.23 36.4 160 416 34 351

781636 0.22 8.4 39 627 44 4

781638 1.62 19.4 12 1355 84 26

781640 0.04 3.4 97 198 7 5

781645 0.53 21.8 41 902 49 56

781647 0.72 42.3 58 672 48 224

781649 1.21 36.2 30 1130 73 46

781651 0.09 3.0 35 150 6 5

All analyses by ALS Chemex: gold by AuAA23 and other elements by ME-ICP41

Figure 2. Gold values in vein/breccia outcrop samples on Discovery Hill, 400 meters above the Gravel Creek

resource. Most samples over 0.5 ppm Au correlate with high-angle NE trending structures.

Surface Exploration has Identified Additional Potential Drill Targets

The 2020 oriented core data, in combination with 2022 surface data, has been modeled in Vulcan and

Leapfrog 3D software to define tentative high angle, NE-trending structural corridors. These will be tested

with angle holes drilled NW to SW, targeting the Jarbidge rhyolite at the 1,500 to 1,750 meter elevation (see

Figure 1). If successful, additional drill results could allow Western Exploration to expand its existing mineral

resource within the Jarbidge rhyolite at Gravel Creek.

Outcrop and subcrop samples 1.0 kilometer NE of Gravel Creek support exploration potential

Of broader exploration significance, the 2022 data gi ves additional support for the exploration potential

associated with strong, multi-elemen t soil anomaly, which extends 2.0 kilometers to the NE of the Gravel

Creek area, parallel to a density anomaly which exte nds from Wood Gulch through Gravel Creek and to the

NE (see Figure 3). Rock outcrop/sub crop sampling of a small area of alteration and veining 1.0 kilometer NE

of the Gravel Creek resource in the NE Badger area returned Au-Ag-As-Sb-Mo values comparable to the levels

seen directly over the Gravel Creek deposit. The 1. 61 g/t Au sample from the NE Badger anomaly is the

highest-grade surface gold value collected to-date in the Jarbidge rhyolite and the highly anomalous Mo (up

to 256 ppm) is suggestive of a upflow zone within the hydrothermal system (see Table 1 and Figure 4).

Figure 3. Location of 2022 Discovery Hill and NE Ba dger mapping and geochemical sampling. Note the NE-

trending density anomaly that extends from Wood Gulch to at least 2.0 kilometers NE of Gravel Creek is

paralleled by a strong As-in-soil anomaly. The soil ano maly has been verified by the discovery of highly

anomalous Au-As-As-Sb-Mo values in outcrop/sub crop 1.0-kilometer NE of the Gravel Creek deposit. The soil

geochemistry and geophysics are reported from the Technical Report.

Figure 4. Location of the North Badger Au-Ag-As-Sb-Mo -in-rock anomaly in Jarbidge rhyolite, 1.0 kilometer

NE of the Gravel Creek deposit.

About the Aura Project

As outlined in the Technical Report (which was prepar ed in accordance with the requirements of National

Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101")), the Aura Project has well

established infrastructure including year-round acce ssibility by highway and county-maintained road and

nearby access to water and electricity (see Figure 5 below). Western Exploration has exploration,

development, and mining rights on 930 hectares of privately owned fee lands through a mineral lease

agreement with a local landowner and may purchase those fee lands at any time for the development

of Doby George.

← Back to feed