Western Exploration Inc. announced the commencement of an IP geophysics program and a 2,000-meter diamond core drill program at the Company's wholly-owned Aura project, located approximately 75 miles north of the city of Elko, Nevada (the "Aura Project"). During the 2023 field season, Western Exploration is focused on completing the following exploration activities at the Aura Project: Execute the IP geophysics program with the goal of defining and expanding the already extensive list of targets for drilling on site, including targets surrounding the area comprising the mineral resource estimate outlined in the Aura Technical Report. Metallurgical test work at Doby George will continue with column test work results.

Bottle roll results indicate that the Doby George material can be recovered via a heap leach process. Execute the Gravel Creek drill program with the goal of expanding the north-east portion of the Gravel Creek deposit that are not included in the existing resource. Results from the Gravel Creek drill program will be provided as they become available.

Western Exploration is the 100% owner of the Aura Project, located approximately 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of the city of Elko, Nevada, and includes three gold and silver deposits: Doby George, Gravel Creek, and Wood Gulch. Metallurgical test work for all three deposits has shown that well-established processes, including whole mineralization flotation at Gravel Creek and heap leaching at Wood Gulch and Doby George, can be used to extract gold and silver from the known mineralization. A synthesis of exploration work conducted at the Aura Project from 1997 to 2021 has resulted in the creation of a robust geologic model, which offers significant potential for resource expansion and new discoveries on the project.

Doby George is one of the highest-grade, undeveloped open pit heap leach resource in Nevada. The deposit is an outcropping, high-grade sediment-hosted mineral deposit, with multiple zones of mineralization identified by drilling over an area of 1.7 by 0.8 kilometers. The zone of oxidation extends 150 to 200 meters below surface, while limited deep drilling has encountered unoxidized gold mineralization at depths of over 600 meters below surface.

Wood Gulch and Gravel Creek are located 8 kilometers to the east of Doby George and both occur in a similar geological environment along steep dipping north-west and north-east trending structural zones intersecting a low angle contact between Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and Tertiary volcanics. The mineralization is related to the Tertiary volcanism and has been traced by surface mapping, sampling and drilling over an area of 5.0 kilometers by 3.5 kilometers. Drilling in 2023 will focus on the north-east extension of the Gravel Creek deposit where numerous high grade vein intercepts remain open and outside of the current resource estimate included in the Aura Technical Report.

The Aura Project is accessible year-round by highway and county roads with access to water and electricity nearby. It is located 32 kilometers north of the Jerritt Canyon mine. The mineral resource estimate for the Aura project is disclosed in the Company's technical report, prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ?

Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), entitled "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) that was prepared for the Company by Mine Development Associates (the "Aura Technical Report"). The scientific and technical content in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mark Hawksworth, General Manager of the Aura Project, and a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101. Legacy drill intercepts are reported at 5.0 g/t Au cutoff, with assays uncut.

Exploration program design, Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") and the interpretation of results is performed by qualified persons employing a QA/QC program consistent with NI 43-101 and industry best practices. Standards and blanks are inserted approximately every 20th sample into the sample stream for QA/QC purposes by the Company as well as the lab. Surface geochemical samples are generally only at anomalous levels and are never used in resource calculations.

However, professionally prepared standards were inserted into the sample sequence submitted to ALS CHEMEX to maintain control on assays for comparison purposes. Please see below under the heading "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information" for further details regarding the risks facing Western Exploration.