Northwest Copper starts drilling at Kwanika project

Mr. Paul Olmsted reports NORTHWEST ANNOUNCES DRILLING UNDERWAY AT KWANIKA Drilling is well under way at Northwest Copper Corp.'s 100-per-cent-owned Kwanika project for the 2025 season. The success of the flow-through financing has allowed the company to mobilize two drill rigs to site to execute on its planned 5,135-metre drill program. The work includes drilling at the existing Kwanika Central deposit and two exploration targets: the Transfer and Andesite Breccia targets. Kwanika Central deposit Northwest's 2025 plan at the Kwanika Central deposit is to complete drill holes to confirm and expand its higher-grade target model announced on April 10, 2025, from surface to a depth of approximately 350 metres. The main objective of the program is to use drill results to inform an updated mineral resource estimate and support a revised mine design based on a surface pit and a more selective underground bulk mining method. Transfer target The company plans to drill test the Transfer target located approximately 300 metres south of the Kwanika Central deposit. This target represents a near surface IP chargeability proximal to favourable alteration and discontinuous anomalous gold values identified in previous drilling. The 2025 drilling is designed to determine the orientation of intense alteration associated with late intermediate dikes and for increases in vein intensity and/or mineralization consistent with that at Kwanika Central. The Transfer target represents an opportunity for new discoveries on the Kwanika property that potentially represent parallel zones to Kwanika Central deposit's western area. Andesite Breccia target Northwest will also test the Andesite Breccia target located 600 metres north of the Kwanika Central deposit with 350 metres in one hole. The 2025 program is to follow-up a historic drill intercept of 87.0 metres at 0.38 per cent Cu (copper) and 0.06 gram per tonne Au (gold) from 102.4 metres hosted in an andesite hosted tectonic breccia. The breccia remains open at depth and along strike. This mineralization is different from the Kwanika Central deposit but warrants drilling to understand its orientation, context and whether it represents the northern extension of the Central Fault that runs through the Kwanika Central deposit. The drilling at the Kwanika Central deposit, the Transfer target and the Andesite Breccia target is scheduled to continue through to the end of October. Geoff Chinn, vice-president of business development and exploration, stated: "We are thrilled to launch the next drill program at Kwanika guided by our higher-grade target model informed by all historical drilling. This includes 11,876 metres of drilling in 30 holes conducted in 2022 that was excluded from the results of the 2023 preliminary economic assessment. The 2022 exploration program also included a SkyTEM airborne magnetics survey that has provided additional context for both the Kwanika Central deposit and the Transfer target areas that we are keen to evaluate given the potential. The 2025 program, together with the 2022 drilling will be used to inform an updated mineral resource including enhanced higher-grade estimation domains that will be used to support an updated PEA in the first half of 2026." 2025 drill program details Around Kwanika, the company plans to complete 5,135 metres of drilling to confirm and expand the higher-grade target model announced April 10 and to drill test the nearby Transfer and Andesite Breccia targets. Of the total planned drill metres, 4,285 metres is planned at the Kwanika Central deposit in 14 holes while 850 metres is planned at the Transfer and Andesite Breccia targets in three holes. The company will provide additional updates on the drill program as results become available over the coming months. Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed, verified and approved by Geoff Chinn, PGeo, vice-president of business development and exploration for Northwest, who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Minerals Projects. About Northwest Copper Corp. Northwest Copper is a copper-gold exploration and development company with a pipeline of advanced and early stage projects in British Columbia, including Kwanika-Stardust, Lorraine-Top Cat and East Niv. With a robust portfolio in a Tier 1 jurisdiction, Northwest Copper is well positioned to participate fully in a strengthening global copper market. The company is committed to responsible mineral exploration which involves working collaboratively with first nations to ensure future development incorporates stewardship best practices and traditional land use. We seek Safe Harbor.