Western Gold Exploration Announces Commencement Of A New Drilling Programme At The Gossan Burn Copper Prospect, Argyll

Gossan Burn is a new outcropping copper discovery along a trend of old copper workings from the 1860's located south of the Stronchullin orogenic gold vein system, where Western Gold carried out exploration drilling in 2021.

The Company has identified the potential for Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) mineralization of the Besshi style epitomized by the giant Windy Craggy deposit in British Columbia, Canada. These deposits are typically copper rich and occur in sedimentary turbidite sequences associated with mafic volcanics in similar geotectonic environments to the copper showings in the area. Soil anomalies using both deep overburden and ionic leach techniques have highlighted a base metal anomaly 1km in length. Outcrop is limited to the banks of the small streams in the area and copper staining is noted in places, supergene chalcocite mineralization outcrops in the vicinity of the Gossan Burn fault. Channel sampling across the zone yielded 10m @ 5% Copper including 2.5m @ 17.5 % Copper.

The drill rig is a special helicopter portable light rig mounted on a rubber tracked Moorooka to minimize ground disturbance. The proposed plan for the drilling programme will be 6 diamond drill holes of 180-200m depth each, for aggregate drilling of up to 1200m, which will be used to evaluate the economic potential of the Gossan Burn prospect.

Drilling will target the base metal geochemical anomalies and some deeper geophysical targets. The E-W fault at Gossan Burn will also be drill tested with the aim of investigating potential secondary remobilisation of mineralisation along this structure.

Harry Dobson, Chairman, commented: "The Company is pleased to be commencing diamond drilling at Gossan Burn, in order to further enhance our knowledge of the mineralisation throughout the Knapdale region".

The Company has engaged Priority Drilling as drilling contractors, having undertaken the drilling program at Stronchullin in 2021. Priority Drilling have consistently delivered greater than 95% core recoveries. Required planning consents have been granted and as part of the Company's enhanced health and safety guidelines, strict regulations are being applied across the site to continue to ensure full Covid compliance, including routine testing of all personnel.

The Company estimates that this drilling programme will commence at the end of May with assay results due in the third quarter of 2022.

Further details can be found in the Company's "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Geological Introduction to Knapdale Gold-Silver Project, Scotland" with an effective date of 12 June, 2020, which can be found on the Company's website or under the Company's SEDAR profile.

The Company has filed its audited consolidated financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, which can be found under the Company's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

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 mineral properties in Western Scotland and discovering new opportunities in the Dalradian Belt, targeting historic gold-silver and copper-lead mines in the belt with the potential to develop a mineral resource. Prospects include the Stronchullin gold-lead mine, Gossan Burn and Allt Dearg which are all located in the Knapdale Project area.

In the Kilmelford area the Company has a copper gold porphyry prospect within the Lagalochan intrusive breccia complex. First explored by BP minerals in the 1980's the area has seen little work since. The Lagalochan porphyry system is a copper gold porphyry stock with minor molybdenum associated and represents one of the few examples of mineralised porphyry intrusive within the Appalachin/Dalradian terranes. Lower temperature zinc-lead bearing shears and epithermal gold bearing vein systems are also noted in the area. Gold rich skarn mineralization has also been rock-chipped in outcropping carbonate rocks bordering the intrusive complex.

Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under the Company's profile and on the Company's website at www.westerngoldexploration.com

Mr. David Pym, Chartered Geologist and consultant to the Company, is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, responsible for the accuracy of scientific and technical information in this news release.

All analytical work has been completed at the ALS Geochemistry laboratory facility in Loughrea, Ireland. ALS Geochemistry is an internationally accredited lab and are ISO compliant (ISO 9001:2008, ISO/IEC 17025:2005). All drill core, rock chip and channel samples are prepared using the PREP 31B method and analyzed for gold using the Au-AA23 procedure (30gm fire assay with AAS finish: Lower Detection Limit - 0.005ppm gold; Upper Detection Limit - 10ppm gold). Any samples that returned over-limit values (>10ppm gold) were analyzed by the Au-AA25 Fire Assay procedure (0.01-100ppm gold). All drill core, rock chip and channel samples are analyzed for silver, base metals and a comprehensive trace element suite using the ME-MS61L™ method following a four-acid digest. Commercially available OREAS Certified Reference Materials and Blanks are routinely inserted into sample dispatches every 25 samples. ALS Geochemistry also utilizes in-house QA/QC protocol using standards, blanks and duplicates.

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to those that address potential quantity and/or grade of minerals, potential for minerals and/or mineral resources, timing and plans for any exploratory drilling and statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs, and current expectations of the Company with respect to the future business activities and operating performance of the Company that may be described herein. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2021 available at www.sedar.com, many of which are beyond the control of the Company.

Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Western Gold Exploration Ltd.



Contact
Ross McLellan, CEO, Phone: +44 7779 161441, Email: info@westerngoldexploration.com