Western Alaska Minerals Drilling Confirms District-Scale Potential

TUCSON, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / November 5, 2024 / Western Alaska Minerals (the "Company" or "WAM") (TSXV:WAM) is pleased to report drilling and trenching results that show continuity of mineralization across its Illinois Creek CRD project. Additional assay results from the Warm Springs (WS) zone strengthens evidence of a critical link between the Waterpump Creek (WPC) silver deposit (75 Moz at 980 g/t AgEq Inferred¹) and the Illinois Creek (IC) gold deposit (373,000 oz AuEq indicated and 152,000 oz AuEq inferred¹), significantly enhancing the district-scale potential of the 100%-owned project.

The final six 2024 drill holes completed at Warm Springs further demonstrate the extensive scale of the Carbonate Replacement Deposit (CRD) hydrothermal system at the Illinois Creek Project (see September 10, 2024 news release). The Warm Springs zone is characterized by an upper horizon of multistage intense silicification and brecciation, associated with massive to semi-massive pyrite and gold-copper mineralization. This mineralization style is exemplified in the upper intercepts of holes IC24-0008, IC24-0010, and previously reported IC24-0004 (see August 29, 2024 news release).

Highlights:

• Initial exploration drilling at the Warm Springs target confirms a ~1.7 km x 1.0 km mineralized corridor, south of the WS fault, trending east-northeast with eight of nine holes encountering significant CRD-style alteration and mineralization.

• Intersections of complex multi-stage mineralization characterized by thick intervals of silica pyrite mineralization punctuated by thin zones of both Illinois Creek (Au/Ag/Cu) and Waterpump Creek (Ag/Pb/Zn) styles of mineralization.

• Drill highlights include:

IC24-0010 2.5 meters grading 2.31 g/t Au, 73 g/tAg

IC24-0010 0.5 meters grading 53 g/t Ag, 3.1% Pb, 12.4% Zn

IC24-0008 10.4 meters grading 1.02 g/t Au

IC24-0008 2.1 meters grading 2.68 g/t Au, 214g/t Ag, 0.9% Cu

IC24-0008 1.5 meters grading 3.54 g/t Au, 6.7 g/t Ag

IC24-0005* 1.2 meters grading 687 g/t Ag,33.6% Pb

IC24-0005* 3.2 meters grading 88.5 g/t Ag, 2.4% Pb, 4.0% Zn

IC24-0004* 1.0 meters grading 5.6 g/t Au, 12.8 g/t Ag,

IC24-0004* 0.2 meters grading 12.5g/t Au, 167 g/t Ag,0.9% Cu, 2.4% Pb

"These results mark a significant milestone in demonstrating the scalability of our Illinois Creek CRD project," stated Kit Marrs, CEO of Western Alaska Minerals. "The mineralization encountered at Warm Springs provides strong evidence for a connection between our high-grade Waterpump Creek silver deposit and the Illinois Creek gold deposit."

¹ For full disclosure visit https://westernalaskaminerals.com/projects/illinois-creek-crd/ for details on the NI 43-101 report

Discussion

In 2024, Western Alaska Minerals' exploration strategy targeted the expansive, untested corridor between our established Illinois Creek and Waterpump Creek deposits. This multi-kilometer district-scale system, spanning at least 6 by 8 kilometers, was the focus of drilling at the high-priority Warm Springs and LH prospects. The program successfully validated and expanded our understanding of this large-scale mineralized footprint.

CSAMT and 3D IP geophysical surveys, conducted in 2022 and 2023, combined with extensive soil geochemistry and drilling has revealed compelling district-scale metal zonation (see Fig. 1 below). This zonation ranges from silver-lead-zinc mineralization at Waterpump Creek, representing the distal portion of the system, to gold-copper-silver mineralization at Illinois Creek, indicating proximity to the intrusive source.

Figure 1. District-scale zoning in relation to the existing Waterpump Creek and Illinois Creek resources.

Warm Springs Key Findings:

• Results suggest Warm Springs could be a new spoke of CRD mineralization analogous to both the IC and WPC resources.

• Mineralization is characterized by paragenetically complex multi-stage silica/pyrite mineralization with thin zones of both IC and WPC styles of mineralization.

• The mineralization lies immediately below a major impermeable fluid barrier capping a thick section of receptive dolomite.

• Preliminary interpretation of a 2024 SkyTEM aerial electromagnetic survey supports additional targeting in the Warm Springs zone with newly recognized high-angle feeder structures and a major antiformal fold axis.

• Importantly, the 2024 exploration drill results and the new SkyTEM survey emphasize the continued westward potential for the gold-copper-rich proximal part of the CRD system.

LH Key Findings

• Drill hole LH24-0015 cut 0.25 meters grading 192 g/t silver, 1.9% lead and 3.8% zinc.

• Trench LH-01-7 grab sample ran 599 g/t silver and 46.8% zinc.

• 2024 exploration at the LH zone, including drilling and surface trenching, has identified a narrow vertical structure that appears to be vertically oriented, controlling CRD-style alteration and Ag-Pb-Zn gossan mineralization. While this structure shows potential at depth, it appears unlikely to represent an offset of the Waterpump Creek fault. Rather, the data suggests LH represents a distinct, separate part of the broader Illinois Creek CRD mineralized system.

• Stratigraphic and 2024 drill implications along with the preliminary SkyTEM interpretation suggest the main WPC structure remains untested downdip farther to the east below capping impermeable schists. This target has been named "Waterpump Creek South".

Figure 2. North wall of Trench LH-01 depicting 4 gossans with grab-sample assaying 599 g/t Ag, 46.8% Zn, and 4,300 ppm Pb

Figure 3. Location of Waterpump Creek South and LH Targets

Table 1. Intercepts from Warm Springs drill holes IC24-0004 through IC24-0012