Mr. Shane Williams reports

WEST RED LAKE GOLD DECLARES COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION AT MADSEN GOLD MINE

West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. has declared commercial production at its 100-per-cent-owned Madsen gold mine, located in the Red Lake mining district of Northwestern Ontario, Canada.

The Madsen mine achieved commercial production as of Jan. 1, 2026. The mill averaged 689 tonnes per day in December, 2025. This represents 86 per cent of the permitted throughput of 800 tonnes per day and meets the company's internal commercial production requirement of 30 consecutive days of mill throughput at 65 per cent or greater of permitted capacity. Operational stability, the other internal requirement, is also in place at Madsen. Consistent strong mill recoveries, which averaged 94.6 per cent in December, enabled production of 3,215 ounces of gold.

"We are delighted to announce commercial production at the Madsen mine, achieved only seven months after completion of the bulk sample," said Shane Williams, president and chief executive officer. "Achieving commercial production is a major milestone for any producer and it comes after a strong December that saw tonnage, grade, recoveries and production all perform to plan. Credit and gratitude go to the site operations team, who delivered a responsible and methodical mine ramp-up. I also want to thank our partners, the Lac Seul and Wabauskang first nations and the community of Red Lake, for their long-standing support.

"We will continue to ramp up from this strong base, and I anticipate Madsen will reach sustained permitted capacity by mid-2026."

For the first quarter of 2026, mill feed will come predominantly from the 4447 area, the high-grade zone in South Austin that the company defined in 2025. Mill feed is expected to average in excess of six grams per tonne gold in Q1.

In December, the Madsen mine produced 21,389 tonnes of ore, which is an average of 689 tonnes per day. The tonnes carried an average grade of 4.94 grams per tonne gold. Mill recovery of 94.6 per cent over the month produced 3,215 ounces of gold in December.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the Madsen mine produced 49,162 tonnes of ore, which is an average of 534 tonnes per day. The tonnes carried an average grade of 5.06 grams per tonne gold. Mill recovery of 95 per cent over the quarter recovered 7,379 ounces of gold in the quarter.

The operation poured 7,200 ounces of gold in Q4. (Note that recovered and poured ounces do no align exactly due to gold in circuit and timing of gold pours.) Those ounces were sold at an average price of $4,150 (U.S.) per ounce for total gold sales revenue of $30-million (U.S.).

In 2025, the Madsen mine poured 20,000 ounces gold. This gold was sold at an average price of $3,650 (U.S.) per ounce for total gold sales revenues of $73-million (U.S.). The company ended 2025 with $46-million cash and gold receivables.

"The potential to continue creating value at Madsen through multiple opportunities makes this achievement of commercial production especially exciting," said Mr. Williams.

"We are drilling at Fork with a view to bring that deposit into the mine plan this year. The shaft is nearing operation and work to date has revealed a path to potentially increase shaft tonnage significantly in the medium term. We are starting to delineate a new high-grade area in Lower Austin called the 904 complex that is similar to 4447, the high-grade area in South Austin that we advanced through definition drilling, mine design and access development within eight months so that today we are mining this high-margin mineralization. The immediate impact of mining these jewellery-box-type areas was realized when material from 4447 lifted the gold grade through the Madsen mill to levels reaching 8.9 grams per tonne gold in December. We look forward to pulling a majority of our ore tonnes from the 4447 area through Q1.

"It has taken immense work to get here and it is fantastic to see our methodical approach generate the results and opportunities we knew Madsen could deliver."

The company anticipates releasing 2026 guidance during Q1.

The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Will Robinson, PGeo, vice-president of exploration for West Red Lake Gold and the qualified person for exploration at the West Red Lake project, and by Hayley Halsall-Whitney, PEng, vice-president of operations for West Red Lake Gold and the qualified person for technical services at the West Red Lake project, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd.

West Red Lake Gold Mines is a gold mining company that is publicly traded and focused on its flagship high-grade Madsen gold mine and the associated 47-square-kilometre highly prospective land package in the Red Lake district of Ontario. The highly productive Red Lake gold district of Northwestern Ontario, Canada, has yielded over 30 million ounces of gold from high-grade zones and hosts some of the world's richest gold deposits. West Red Lake Gold Mines also owns the Rowan property in Red Lake, which hosts a small, high-grade deposit that West Red Lake Gold is looking to advance toward production.

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