Western Alaska Minerals announced that drilling has commenced on its 100% owned Illinois Creek property in western Alaska. Initial drilling is focused on new target zones to expand and link together mineralization along 6 to 8 km of this silver-rich carbonate replacement (CRD) system. Highlights: Objective: Tie the individual zones of the CRD system together, beginning with LH and Warm Springs priority areas, then linking them to the Illinois Creek Mine zone.

Budgeted Program: 4,000m of diamond core drilling with potential to expand. Drill Targets are located along approximately 5 km of an 8 km long, SW-NE oriented trend connecting the Waterpump Creek, Warm Springs and Illinois Creek Mine systems. Initial targets lie 2.5 km (LH Zone) and 5 km (WS Zone) respectively, from the high-grade Waterpump Creek silver-zinc-lead NI 43-101 inferred resource containing 74.9 Moz at 980 g/t AgEq, with later drilling tentatively planned near the Illinois Creek Mine zone, which lies anther 2 km along the trend. Target Zone #1: LH strongly resembles Waterpump Creek with historic high-grade oxide intercepts lying up-dip from the target zone and similar surrounding geophysical and soil geochemical signatures.

Target Zone #2: WARM SPRINGS (WS) lies close to the past-producing Illinois Creek gold mine, interpreted to lie near the source of the system. was also shows historic high-grade oxide intercepts up-dip from the target zone and similar geophysical and soil geochemical signatures to Waterpump Creek. Strategic Logistics, Maximizing Efficiency: Drilling will be executed by 2, 12 hour shifts of drillers operating two Company-owned, high capacity (Discovery HD) drill rigs set up on the widespread target zones.

Drilling will alternate between the zones, permitting the technical team to fully incorporate the results of each drill hole into planning of the next, while greatly reducing drill rig move time and expense. As of June 15, 2024, the first hole targeting the LH zone is nearing completion with drill production on track (54.8 m/day versus 55 m/day budgeted). Updates and assay results will be published as they become available.

Technical Discussion: 2024 drilling is focused on finding additional bodies of high-grade sulphide mineralization similar to those of the Waterpump Creek Resource along the 6 to 8 km trend between WPC and the historic Illinois Creek Mine, which is believed to lie proximal to the system's source. Targets are based on an updated geologic model generated through compiling 2022 CSAMT and 2023 3D IP geophysical surveys, historic up-dip oxide drill intercepts, and soil geochemistry similar to those marking Waterpump Creek. The 4,000 meters will be allocated alternately between the two zones described below with the later season drilling expected to focus on the areas with the most promising early results.

LH zone: The LH zone lies to the south-southwest of the WPC resource within the same carbonate sequence and exhibits very similar CRD-style alteration and geophysical signatures as that found at the high-grade WPC mineral resource. NovaGold's 2006 drilling tested to the east of strong Pb-Zn soil anomalies and intersected oxidized Pb-Zn oxide mineralization within and below an aquitard schist unit analogous to that which occurs above the WPC deposit. The planned 2024 drill holes will be targeted farther down dip, below the level of oxidation and within the favorable carbonate stratigraphy.

2023 WAM exploration drilling in LH zone to the north of the NovaGold drilling, closer to the WPC resource, showed abundant strong CRD-style alteration, characterized by broad zones of fugitive carbonate veins, sanding (de-calcification), and tan carbonates (siderite/ankerite) in nearly all drill holes. Similar alteration was found along two previously recognized favorable carbonate horizons capped by schist units. 3D inversion modelling and interpretation of the high-resolution 3-D resistivity and induced polarization survey (3D IP) revealed two distinct north-south domains: 1) a conductive (<25 ohm-m) zone, that can be used as a proxy for alteration and 2) a near vertical, very conductive (<5 ohm-meter) domain that likely reflects the southerly continuation of the WPC fault- the main structural control on Waterpump Creek mineralization.

Both features are farther down-dip (to the east) from the historical drilling and will be the target of 2024 drilling. The conductive (<25 ohm-m) domain increases in size to the south and west of LH towards the Illinois Creek mine and the Warm Springs zone described below. Warm Springs zone: The Warm Springs target zone lies to the east of the past-producing Illinois Creek oxide Au-Ag mine, containing an NI 43-101 compliant Au-Ag resource, and along trend towards the LH prospect and WPC resource.

Here, Anaconda and Echo Bay defined an extensive, shallowly-dipping (IC East Manto) gossan up to 60 meters thick with highly anomalous Pb and Zn that lies beneath an impermeable greenstone plate in the same carbonate horizon as the IC deposit. This oxide mineralization is exposed at surface near the east end of the IC East Manto as the Warm Springs Siliceous Breccia. A similar, but unoxidized breccia composed of massive pyrite (sulfide) and anomalous Pb-Zn was intersected below the greenstone by two WAM holes (IC22-01 and IC22-02) that lie 800 and 1000 meters to east respectively.

Although the 2023 3D IP survey did not extend this far south, the broadening conductor (<25 ohm-m) modelled at LH projects towards these holes and the IC East Manto. The combined evidence points to a voluminous hydrothermal system that has only been touched by a few holes to date. The 2024 drill program includes several holes to test the sulfide potential of this target.

In addition, WAM's 2022 CSAMT geophysical survey defined an east-northeast structure dubbed the Warm Springs Fault (WSF) that likely truncates the East IC Manto down-dip to the south, creating a very attractive target possibly similar to South 32's large-scale Hermosa deposit where a major structure offsets the Central Manto Oxide deposit from the Taylor Deeps Sulfide.