Western Alaska Minerals (TSXV:WAM) has announced a significant development at its Warm Springs target, a key part of the company’s ongoing exploration efforts in Alaska. The company intersected its first gold mineralization at the site, which is part of a broader effort to explore and expand the mineral resource potential in the region. This discovery, along with other encouraging drill results, indicates a new, mineral-rich pathway that could significantly extend the known mineral system in the area.

Kit Marrs, founder and CEO of Western Alaska Minerals, commented in a press release: “Finding gold at Warm Springs opens up a whole new gold target zone within the eight-kilometer-long trend between the Illinois Creek and Waterpump Creek resources. This is an exciting complement to our high-grade silver-zinc-lead resource at Waterpump Creek.

To date, WAM has completed nine drill holes at the Warm Springs target, with notable mineralization intercepted in seven of the nine holes. These drill holes revealed extensive alteration and oxide mineralization, as well as localized base-metal sulfide mineralization. The technical team reports a core recovery rate of 90.1% for the intercepted mineralization, with a combination of gold, copper, and other metals.

Dr. Peter Megaw, a renowned geologist and technical advisor for WAM, highlighted the significance of the results, stating that the discovery of gold and copper in multiply brecciated zones suggests the presence of a major pathway for mineralizing fluids. These fluids could connect the Warm Springs target to other known mineral resources in the region, including the Illinois Creek gold-copper resource and the Waterpump Creek silver-lead-zinc deposit. Megaw also indicated that the possibility of a parallel structure to the Illinois Creek Fault opens up further exploration potential.

The Warm Springs target is believed to be a key extension of the Illinois Creek carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) system. This complex mineralization has evolved over multiple stages, with WAM’s drilling providing valuable insights into the structure and content of the resource.

The company’s first drill hole at the site, IC24-0004, intercepted four distinct zones of mineralization, including:
1. Pyrite and hydrothermal quartz breccia with elevated gold, arsenic, and copper levels.
2. Recrystallized ankerite, containing trace amounts of galena.
3. Silica and oxide breccia, subdivided into limonite-dominant and hematite-dominant areas.
4. Oxidized manto gossans, with elevated levels of lead and manganese.

These mineralized zones, ranging from 18.7 to 53.65 meters in thickness, combine for a total of 100 meters of mineralization in the drill hole. This discovery represents a major step forward in understanding the Warm Springs target’s potential and its role within the broader Illinois Creek system.

In addition to Warm Springs, WAM also drilled four holes at the LH target zone, located west of the project’s airstrip. The LH target has long been considered a potential high-grade extension of the Waterpump Creek silver-lead-zinc zone, which has shown considerable promise in previous explorations.

WAM’s 2024 drilling efforts at the LH target have not yet yielded significant sulfide manto mineralization. However, the drill holes did intercept a few gossans, which warrant further investigation. Four surface trenches were also cut to refine the exploration model for the zone. Based on the initial drilling and trenching, WAM now interprets the LH target as a vertically oriented feature, likely positioned higher in the CRD system than previously thought. Mineralization is expected to be deeper than earlier estimates. Further assays are pending for both the drilling and trenching at the LH zone.

The Warm Springs discovery is part of a broader exploration effort by WAM to map and develop a large-scale carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) system in Alaska. The company’s Illinois Creek property, which includes past-producing gold and silver mines, hosts a range of mineral prospects across a 73,120-acre land package. This region, originally discovered by Anaconda Minerals in the early 1980s, encompasses multiple CRD targets, including Waterpump Creek and the Round Top copper prospects.

WAM’s strategy is to link the Warm Springs mineralization with other deposits in the district, potentially creating a large and mineable CRD system. The proximity of the Warm Springs target to other known mineral resources, including gold, silver, lead, and zinc, adds significant potential to this exploration. The company believes that the Warm Springs structure could be a critical new “spoke” in the mineral system, offering an opportunity to expand resources both laterally and vertically.

As WAM awaits further assay results from both the Warm Springs and LH targets, the company remains committed to advancing exploration across its claims. Future drilling will aim to confirm and expand the findings from this year’s program, with the ultimate goal of developing a scalable, mineable resource in western Alaska.

According to Andrew West, Vice President of WAM and a certified professional geologist, the data gathered so far has been rigorously verified to ensure accuracy. West’s 30 years of experience in mineral resource exploration provide confidence in the potential of the Warm Springs target and its significance within WAM’s broader exploration strategy.

Highlights from the results are as follows:

• Two gold zones intercepted in drill hole IC24-0004:
  • 1.29 g/t Au over 4.68 meters within massive pyrite, including:
    • 12.5 g/t Au and 0.9% Cu over 0.18 meters
  • 2.13 g/t Au over 2.96 meters, including:
    • 5.57 g/t Au over 1.01 meters
• Discovery of a new and separate mineralized structure parallel to the Illinois Creek Fault, opening the potential of a new “spoke” to the system.
• First significant copper and gold mineralization intercepted since WAM initiated exploration in 2021.
• The gold-bearing zone is located approximately 1.4 km southeast of the Illinois Creek gold-silver resource