Inaugural Drill Campaign Is Nearing Completion at Toiyabe Project

VANCOUVER – Westward Gold Inc. reported on the inaugural drill campaign, currently underway at its flagship Toiyabe Project in Lander County, Nevada. The ~4,000-meter program is now in its final stages, with 10 holes completed to date. Drilling at the second of four target areas – the Toiyabe Hills North Zone – was completed in the first week of this month, with each of the four holes reaching a depth of 1,000 feet / ~305 meters (for additional details on the Toiyabe Hills North Zone. The primary target was a northeast-trending structure – the Toiyabe Hills Fault and drilling confirmed its presence along with several other structures across the four holes. Broad zones of decalcification (+15 meters), and intrusive rocks were encountered throughout the drilling. Surface mapping and drill cuttings have confirmed that the TH Fault was a fluid conduit based on the alteration and intrusive rocks observed.

The Company’s management and technical teams were recently on site touring the property and monitoring the campaign’s progress, and met with the drilling crew while hole T2205 was underway. The rig is now currently drilling in the third target area, the Toiyabe-Saddle Down-dip Zone (the “TSD Zone”). Three of the holes in the TSD Zone have now been drilled and the rig is mobilizing to the fourth drill pad location.

Shipments of reverse-circulation chip samples have continued in regular intervals, and ALS Ltd. is now in possession of 8 total holes. The Company anticipates receiving assay results from the lab in batches, beginning before the end of August and continuing into September.

The Company’s third target area (the TSD Zone) is situated to the south of the historical resource estimate at Toiyabe (~173 koz at 1.2 g Au/t)(the “Historical Estimate”), between the northernmost open pit at the past-producing Toiyabe-Saddle Mine and the Historical Estimate. Four holes are planned in the area, with one (T2208) being situated ~350 meters to the east. There is very limited prior drilling near the ~650m direct line between the Historical Estimate and open pit.

One of the main drivers of exploration targeting in the TSD Zone was testing a major deformation zone / blind thrust fault in the Wenban Formation, a favorable carbonate unit and documented gold host at the nearby Pipeline, Cortez Hills and Goldrush deposits. Data compilation and analyses by Westward over the winter months – including relogging of legacy drillholes, integration of hyperspectral core imaging, and 3D modeling – led to the identification of this deformation zone (thereafter referred to as the “SSD Zone”). Based on the available evidence, it is now believed that the SSD Zone dips from the southwest to the northeast, approaching the surface as it moves towards the past-producing mine, and deeper towards the Historical Estimate. Recent geological surface mapping has also unveiled several northeast-striking igneous dike-filled fault corridors across the property, including at the TSD Zone; these rocks are clay-altered and oxidized.

Dave Browning, VP of Exploration, said, “This is one of our most compelling targets, and surprisingly – given it’s on a direct line between two known deposits – one of the least-explored areas on our property. We’ve developed a new understanding of the thick deformation zone we’re testing, and these holes will be instrumental in filling in the gaps of our geological model and potentially broadening the lateral extent of mineralization at Toiyabe.”