NorthWest Copper Corp. (TSX-V: NWST) is pleased to report additional positive drill results from three holes completed as part of its 2025 program at the Company’s 100% owned Kwanika project in British Columbia. All three holes delivered strong results, intersecting near-surface mineralization highlighted by an intercept in hole K-25-275 of 58 metres grading 0.96% Cu, 1.04 g/t Au (1.92% copper equivalent¹, “CuEq”).

The results from the three holes exceeded expectations within the Pit Zones, expanding on the quality and continuity of higher-grade near-surface mineralization. Importantly, hole K-25-284 extended Pit Zone 10 along strike and down-dip, where mineralization remains open for future growth. All holes returned significant intervals with higher grades at shallow depths, reinforcing the Company’s view that a high-grade starter pit can provide a strong economic base in a future preliminary economic assessment (“PEA”).

The three drill holes achieved a number of key objectives including:

• K-25-275 intersected the higher-grade gold dominate Pit Zone 10 and returned a significantly wider intercept than expected,
• K-25-277 extended Pit Zone 10 up-dip and confirmed its orientation and continuity,
• K-25-284 extended Pit Zone 10 by 40 metres along strike and down-dip, where it remains open,
• Confirmed the presence of multiple near-surface, high-grade zones of mineralization within the current open pit mineral resource.

Collectively, these results highlight the potential to define and expand the higher-grade domains within the Pit Zone area and continue to support the Company’s strategy of prioritizing higher-grade areas within the existing mineral resource to enhance economics of a new PEA.

Paul Olmsted, CEO of NorthWest stated: “Defining higher-grade zones continues to progress exceptionally well and combined with upcoming metallurgical results, is expected to support a higher-quality mineral resource estimate. Results of the first ten holes provides strong validation of our 2025 drill program and its objective of improving our understanding of the higher-grade mineralization within the Central and Pit Zones. These results continue to highlight a clear opportunity to improve project grades by prioritizing higher-grade domains within the existing mineral resource. Together, this work has the potential to underpin a more capital-efficient and economically robust open pit and underground development plan in an updated PEA, improving on the 2023 PEA².”

Drill Hole Highlights:

Geoff Chinn, VP Business Development and Exploration added: “These three holes highlight the pit area, where results have successfully helped define and expand three discrete, structurally controlled higher-grade zones at shallow depths. Defining these zones within the Pit Zone represents a meaningful shift from past modelling practises and should enhance the quality of future mineral resource estimates and any related mine plans. While the stockwork breccia was previously recognized, a higher-grade copper zone to the south and a higher-grade gold zone to the north were not. We are especially pleased with the definition and expansion of Pit Zone 10 and the exploration vectors it provides. Metal zonation also appears similar to what we see at the Central Zone, where high copper-to-gold values transition laterally to high gold-to-copper values across multiple zones. I am increasingly confident we are tracking towards meeting our target guidance as we work towards delivering an updated resource.”

Kwanika Exploration Program

On April 10, 2025, NorthWest announced a refined model for its flagship Kwanika project, highlighting three key higher-grade zones: the Pit, Central and Western Zones. These zones target grades of 1.5% to 2.5% CuEq over combined true thicknesses of 30 to 45 metres, to be assessed against a more selective top-down bulk underground mining method.

The 2025 exploration program is designed to confirm, define and expand on the Company’s understanding of higher-grade copper-gold mineralization within the near surface and underground portions of the current mineral resources. The objective of the program is to improve understanding of near-surface mineralization while also testing alternative underground bulk mining methods. Early results from the first ten holes, including holes K-25-275, K-25-277 and K-25-284, indicate meaningful progress toward these objectives.

Hole locations for the program are presented in Figure 1 below. Figure 2 and Figure 3 illustrate cross sections of the position and context of holes K-25-275, K-25-277 and K-25-284 relative to the Target Model Pit area. Continuous mineralized intercepts and collar locations are summarized in Table 1 and Table 2.

Figure 1: Plan View of 2025 Program Drill Hole Location

 Figure 2: Cross Section of Target Model at K-25-275 and K-25-277 Drill Locations

 Figure 3: Cross Section of Target Model at K-25-284 Drill Location

A summary of the geological aspects of each hole is presented below. All holes were drilled with HQ core size and sampled on approximately 2-metre intervals from sawn half core material.

Hole K-25-275: The hole was drilled northwest on 300° azimuth with a -75° dip to a depth of 185 metres. The primary objective of the hole was to infill the high-grade Pit Zone 10 in an area poorly defined by previous drilling.

Before reaching the Pit Zone 10, the hole intersected Pit Zone 5 at low-angles confirming and infilling this zone. The hole returned a near-surface gold dominate interval over 51 metre width (22 metre true width), hosted in a tectonically dismembered quartz-hematite stockwork crosscutting a potassic altered monzonite porphyry.

At 94 meters, the hole intersected a wide copper-gold zone over 58 metres (48 meters true width) correlated to Pit Zone 10 that is hosted in a potassic altered monzonite crosscut by a dismembered quartz stockwork. The intercept was significantly wider than expected, which is attributed to structural thickening in the area where Pit Zone 5 and Pit Zone 10 intersect.

Hole K-25-275 successfully infilled Pit Zone 10 and confirmed its orientation and continuity. The wide high-grade intersection is likely related to structural thickening or stacking in this area. Importantly, this emerging higher-grade zone is shallow and located within historical open pit mineral resources.

Hole K-25-277: The hole was drilled northwest on 300° azimuth at a -60° dip to a depth of 159 metres. The main purpose of the hole was a step-out to test the up-dip extension of Pit Zone 10.

Before reaching Pit Zone 10, the hole intersected Pit Zone 5 at low-angles, confirming and extending this zone by about 10 metres. The hole returned a near-surface gold dominate interval over 41 metres width (27 metre true width), hosted in a tectonically dismembered quartz-hematite stockwork crosscutting a potassic altered monzonite.

At 91 meters, the hole intersected a narrow gold-dominate zone over 9 metres (6 meters true width), correlated to Pit Zone 10 hosted in a potassic altered monzonite crosscut by a brecciated quartz stockwork. This intercept is crosscut by a thick, late dyke higher in the hole.

Hole K-25-277 extended Pit Zone 10 up-dip and confirmed its orientation and continuity. The narrow high-grade intersection was crosscut by a late dyke that is potassic altered but barren of mineralization.

Hole K-25-284: The hole was drilled west on 270° azimuth at a -75° dip to a depth of 176 metres. The main purpose of the hole was to step-out and test the down-dip extensions of Pit Zone 10.

Before reaching Pit Zone 10, the hole intersected a recently defined, copper dominate higher-grade zone located immediately south of Pit Zone 5, hosted in fine grained green propylitic altered dykes containing disseminated sulphides.   The intersection returned an interval over 17 metre width (14 metre true width) that represents a 45-metre extension of this zone.

At 52 meters, the hole intersected, at low-angle to the zone, a wide copper-gold zone over 70 metres (31 meters true width) correlated to Pit Zone 5, hosted in tectonized potassic altered monzonite porphyry crosscut by a dismembered quartz stockwork. This near-surface intersection represents a 45-meter expansion of the higher-grade copper-gold zone to the northeast and at depth.

At 126 meters, the hole intersected a copper-gold zone over 18 metres (15 meters true width) correlated to Pit Zone 10, hosted in a fine grained, propylitic altered diorite with irregular and discontinuous quartz-carbonate veining. This intersection expands the zone by 40 meters to the east where it remains open along strike and down-dip.

Hole K-25-284 successfully extended Pit Zone 10 along strike and confirmed its orientation and continuity where it remains open along strike and down-dip.

Table 1: Drill Results in this News Release^{3 4}

Table 2: Drill Collar Information⁵

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

Drilling at Kwanika in 2025 was designed and supervised by NorthWest, implemented by InData Geoscience with assay QA/QC checks by Explore Geosolutions. Samples were collected, tracked and an external QA/QC program was implemented using blanks and standards to monitor analytical accuracy and precision. The samples were sealed on site and shipped to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (“Actlabs”) in Kamloops BC. The laboratory’s internal quality control system complies with global certifications for quality ISO 17025. Drill core samples were analyzed using a combination of Actlabs multi-element 1F2 analysis for low level concentrations (4-Acid Digestion, ICP-OES) and the 8-4 Acid ICP-OES analysis for higher level concentrations (4-Acid Digestion, ICP-OES with automatic over limits for base metals and silver). Gold, platinum and palladium assaying was completed with 1C-OES method, using a 30-gram fire assay with ICP finish analysis. In addition, about 5% of the sample pulps are re-assayed at a secondary laboratory to confirm reproducibility and check for bias.

Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed, verified, and approved by Geoff Chinn, P.Geo., VP 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:

NorthWest 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 an established mining jurisdiction, NorthWest is well positioned to participate fully in strengthening global copper and gold markets. We are committed to responsible mineral exploration which involves working collaboratively with First Nations to ensure future development incorporates stewardship best practices and traditional land use.