Western Exploration Files Amended NI 43-101 Technical Report for the AURA Gold Silver Project There is no impact to the capital costs or economic results. The only change is a slightly revised all-in sustaining cost for
Western Exploration Files Amended NI 43-101
Technical Report for the AURA Gold Silver
Project
There is no impact to the capital costs or economic results.
The only change is a slightly revised all-in sustaining cost for
the "Base Case" from $1,152 to $1,172 per gold ounce.
Reno, Nevada--(Newsfile Corp. - October 1, 2025) - Western Exploration Inc. (TSXV: WEX) OTCQX:
WEXPF) (the "
Company
" or "
Western Exploration
") announces that it has filed on SEDAR+ an
amended technical report prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 -
Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects
("
NI 43-101
") on the Aura Project ("
Aura
" or the "
Project
"), titled
"Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Doby George Deposits and Updated Resource Estimate
for the Gravel Creek Gold-Silver Deposits, Aura Gold-Silver Project, Elko County, Nevada"
dated
October 1, 2025, as amended (with an effective June 17, 2025) (the "
Amended
Technical Report
").
The Amended Technical Report supports disclosures contained in the news release of the Company
dated May 8, 2025, titled
"Western Exploration Announces Positive Preliminary Economic
Assessment for the Doby George Resource at The Aura Project"
(the "
PEA News Release
") and the
news release of the Company dated June 23, 2025 titled
"Western Exploration Announces 54%
Increase in Inferred Gravel Creek Gold Equivalent Mineral Resources"
. The Amended Technical
Report replaces and supersedes all previous technical reports of the Company for the Project, including
the previous PEA technical report on the Project dated June 17, 2025 (the "
Initial Technical Report
").
The Amended Technical Report - Key Clarifications
The Amended Technical Report corrects inconsistencies included in certain capital and operating
cost summary tables in sections 1.10, 1.11, 21, and 21.1 of the Initial Technical Report.
Any corrections made to the Initial Technical Report were only made to the tables of information
contained in the Initial Technical Report and does not impact any of the underlying inputs, capital
cost estimates, or economic outcomes of the Preliminary Economic Assessment (the "
PEA
")
reported in the PEA News Release.
The only revision to the calculations contained in the Initial Technical Report relates to the "Base
Case" all-in sustaining cost (AISC), which is now correctly reported at
US$1,172 per gold ounce
,
as compared to US$1,152 per gold ounce included in the Initial Technical Report.
The corrections made in the Amended Technical Report, with the exception of the all-in sustaining cost,
do not affect any of the results or parameters of the preliminary economic assessment as reported in the
Initial Technical Report or the PEA News Release. The Company reconfirms these results below.
Table 1: Doby George 2025 PEA Economics
Base Case
Upside
Case
Gold Price (US$/oz)
2,150
3,000
Average Annual Operating Cash Flow
(1)
(US$)
63.3M
112.1M
Pre-Tax NCF
(2)
(US$)
132.4M
336.5M
Pre-Tax NPV5
(3)
94.7M
265.9M
Pre-Tax IRR
(4)
31.8%
75.7%
After-Tax NCF
(2)
(US$)
103.7M
271.2M
After-Tax NPV5
(3)
(US$)
70.7M
211.2M
After-Tax IRR
(4)
25.4%
62.2%
Payback Period
(5)
(years)
2.7
1.4
Notes
:
(1) Averaged over full production years 1 to 4
(2) NCF means net cash flow
(3) NPV5 refers to net present value at 5% discount rate
(4) IRR means internal rate of return
(5) Pre-production capital, excluding sustaining capital
Table 2: Project Capital Costs
Pre
Production
LOM
Sustaining
(US$M)
(US$M)
Mining
2.8
0.2
Pre Stripping
14.7
0
Processing, Support, and Infrastructure
78.5
10.3
Owners Costs
9.0
0
Indirect Costs
2.3
0
Engineering, procurement and construction management
7.9
0
Working Capital
(1)
12.4
0
TOTAL
(2)
127.6
10.5
Notes
:
(1) Working Capital is credited in Year 5
(2) Values are rounded and may not sum perfectly
Table 3: Project Operating Costs
LOM Total
(US$ M)
Per Tonne
Processed
(US$)
Mining
153.0
13.42
Processing
77.2
6.77
General administrative cost
23.4
2.05
TOTAL
253.6
22.24
The Amended Technical Report was prepared by RESPEC Company LLC ("
RESPEC
") and Kappes,
Cassidy & Associates ("
KCA
") both based in Reno, Nevada with an effective date of June 17, 2025.
The Amended Technical Report can be found on the Company's website at
www.westernexploration.com
and on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca
under the Company's issuer profile.
Technical Information
The Gravel Creek, Wood Gulch and Doby George mineral resource estimate ("
MRE
") were prepared for
Western Exploration by Mr. Michael S. Lindholm, C.P.G. of RESPEC in Reno, Nevada, who is a
qualified person for purposes of NI 43-101 and independent of Western Exploration as defined in
Section 1.5 of NI 43-101.
The PEA has been prepared by independent representatives of KCA and RESPEC, each of whom is a
"qualified person" (within the meaning of NI 43-101) (each, a "
qualified person
") and independent of
Western Exploration for purposes of Section 1.5 of NI 43-101. At the effective date of the PEA, each
qualified person has certified that, to the best of their knowledge, information, and belief, the parts of the
PEA for which they were responsible, contain all scientific and technical information required to be
disclosed to make the PEA not misleading. The affiliation and areas of responsibility for each qualified
person involved in preparing the PEA are provided below.
Travis Manning, P.E. of KCA - processing design and costs, metallurgy, recovery and cash flow
Mr. Michael S. Lindholm, C.P.G. of RESPEC - geology, database and MRE
Kyle Murphy, P.E. of RESPEC - open pit design, mine planning, scheduling and costing
About Western Exploration
Western Exploration is focused on advancing the 100% owned Aura Project, located approximately 120
kilometers/75 miles north of the city of Elko, Nevada. The Aura Project includes three unique gold and
silver deposits: Doby George, Gravel Creek, and Wood Gulch. Western Exploration is comprised of an
experienced team of precious metals experts that aim to lead the company to becoming North
America's premiere gold and silver development company.
Additional information regarding Western Exploration can be found on Western Exploration's corporate
website (
www.westernexploration.com
) and on SEDAR+ (
www.sedarplus.ca
) under Western
Exploration's issuer profile.
For further information, please contact:
Darcy Marud
Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: (775) 329-8119
Email:
Nichole Cowles
Investor Relations
Telephone: (775) 240-4172
Email:
Cautionary Statements Regarding Estimates of Mineral Resources
This news release uses the terms measured, indicated, and inferred mineral resources as a relative
measure of the level of confidence in the resource estimate. Readers are cautioned that mineral
resources are not mineral reserves and that the economic viability of resources that are not mineral
reserves has not been demonstrated. The mineral resource estimate disclosed in this news release may
be materially affected by geology, environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-political, marketing, or
other relevant issues. The mineral resource estimate is classified in accordance with CIM Definition
Standards for Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on
Reserve Definition, which is incorporated by reference into NI 43-101. Under NI 43-101, estimates of
inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies or economic
studies except for preliminary economic assessments. Readers are cautioned not to assume that further
work on the stated resources will lead to mineral reserves that can be mined economically.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, "
forward-
looking statements
"). These forward-looking statements, by their nature, require the Company to make
certain assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Any
statement that involves predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives,
assumptions, future events or performance (often, but not always, using phrases such as "expects", or
"does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", "management's view", "anticipates" or "does not
anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "potential", "feasibility", "believes"
or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results
"may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of
historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking
information. This news release contains the forward-looking information pertaining to, among other
things: the significance of the results of the MRE and PEA; the accuracy of results from prior exploration
activities conducted at the Project; the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate the
mineral resource estimate disclosed in this news release; the prospects, if any, of the Project, the
estimated cost associated with, and economic viability of, developing the Project. Such factors include,
among others, risks relating to the ability of exploration activities (including drill results) to accurately
predict mineralization; errors in management's geological modelling; the ability of Western Exploration to
complete further exploration activities, including drilling; the uncertain nature of exploration activities;
property and royalty interests in respect of the Project; the ability of the Company to obtain required
approvals; the results of exploration activities; risks relating to mining activities; the global economic
climate; metal prices; dilution; environmental risks; and community and non-governmental actions.
Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what
management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, Western Exploration
cannot assure shareholders and prospective purchasers of securities of the Company that actual results
will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results
not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither Western Exploration nor any other person
assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward-looking information.
Western Exploration does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such
forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or
circumstances, except as may be required by law.
For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the
forward-looking statements and forward-looking information made in this news release concerning
Western Exploration, please refer to the continuous disclosure record of Western Exploration on
SEDAR+ (
www.sedarplus.ca
) under Western Exploration's issuer profile. The forward-looking
statements set forth herein concerning Western Exploration reflect management's expectations as at the
date of this news release and are subject to change after such date. Western Exploration disclaims any
intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined
in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory
authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/268602