Westhaven Gold begins drilling at Shovelnose

Mr. Ken Armstrong reports WESTHAVEN LAUNCHES 50,000M 2026 DRILL PROGRAM AT THE SHOVELNOSE GOLD AND SILVER PROJECT, SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA Westhaven Gold Corp. has started drilling at the company's Shovelnose gold and silver project in the Spences Bridge gold belt of Southern British Columbia. Subject to the outcome of today's special meeting of Westhaven shareholders to consider the proposed transaction with Dundee Corp., as previously described in the company's news release dated Dec. 22, 2025, the drilling announced today is expected to be the start of an approximately $20-million, 50,000-metre program of resource definition and exploration drilling planned for Shovelnose in 2026. Ken Armstrong, president and chief executive officer of Westhaven, commented: "With drilling under way, we have launched what we believe will be a transformational 2026 program at Shovelnose. The drilling is designed to advance the project's high-margin, low-cost development potential while targeting additional gold and silver discoveries across the property. In collaboration with Dundee, our team is currently finalizing the overall 2026 work plan, with the drill program alone expected to total approximately $20-million and include up to four drill rigs completing 50,000 metres of drilling. This represents the most extensive drilling campaign ever undertaken at Shovelnose. Initial work will focus on resource infill drilling at the South zone to strengthen and expand the existing resource base, with exploration drilling increasing as additional rigs are mobilized in the coming months. We look forward to delivering consistent results as the program advances and to further demonstrating the full potential of Shovelnose throughout 2026." About Westhaven Gold Corp. Westhaven is a gold-and-silver-focused exploration and development company targeting low-sulphidation, high-grade, epithermal-style gold and silver mineralization within the Spences Bridge gold belt in Southern British Columbia. Westhaven controls approximately 60,263 hectares within four gold properties spread along this underexplored belt. The Shovelnose gold project is the most advanced property, with a recently updated 2025 preliminary economic assessment that validates the project's potential as a robust, low-cost and high-margin 11-year underground gold mining opportunity with average annual life-of-mine production of 56,000 ounces gold and 313,000 ounces silver with a $454-million after-tax net present value (at a 6-per-cent discount rate) and a 43.2-per-cent internal rate of return (base-case parameters of $2,400 (U.S.) per ounce gold, $28 (U.S.) per ounce silver and a Canadian-dollar/U.S.-dollar exchange rate of $1 (Canadian) to 72 U.S. cents). Qualified person The technical and scientific information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Robin Hopkins, PGeo (Northwest Territories/Nunavut), vice-president, exploration, for Westhaven and a qualified person for the company under the definitions established by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. We seek Safe Harbor.