Western Star Resources Inc. (CSE: WSR) (OTC: WSRIF) (FRA: 4K2) has mobilized its technical team to the Rowland Tungsten Property in Elko County, Nevada, to commence the first phase of its 2026 field exploration program. The program includes a high-resolution drone magnetic survey, systematic prospecting, sampling of historical waste dumps and workings, and a property-wide soil geochemistry campaign designed to refine the company's understanding of the prospective tungsten-bearing skarn horizons.
The company's objective is to use modern geophysics and geochemistry to better define the structural and geological controls on mineralization at Rowland, with the goal of generating drill-ready targets during the 2026 field season. CEO and President Blake Morgan stated, “Our team is now on the ground at Rowland and beginning the first modern exploration program on this past-producing tungsten system. The property has documented historical production, visible historical workings, and a compelling skarn geological setting, but it has never been evaluated using modern drone geophysics and systematic property-wide geochemistry. This program is designed to move Rowland from a historical tungsten occurrence toward a modern, drill-targeted exploration project.”
The 2026 field program focuses on three immediate objectives: mapping the prospective skarn horizon more accurately, evaluating historical workings and waste dumps, and defining property-wide geochemical trends. Existing geological mapping indicates that the property is underlain by limestones, shales, and quartzites intruded by a Cretaceous-aged quartz monzonite stock. Contact metamorphism associated with this intrusive event is interpreted to have formed skarn and hornfels zones, which represent the primary prospective environment for tungsten mineralization.
Field crews will inspect, map, photograph, and sample historical workings, including open cuts, pits, trenches, shafts, adits, and waste dumps. Portable XRF will be used as a field-screening tool to rapidly identify anomalous tungsten and associated elements. The company cautions that portable XRF readings are preliminary in nature and are not a substitute for certified laboratory assays.
The drone magnetic survey is designed to provide high-resolution geophysical coverage across the property, helping to refine the understanding of intrusive geometry, structural trends, and potential contacts between intrusive and carbonate-bearing units. These contacts are important because tungsten skarn systems commonly form where mineralizing fluids associated with granitic intrusions interact with carbonate-rich rocks. Western Star expects to receive preliminary processed geophysical products in the coming weeks.
The soil sampling program is intended to test the broader geochemical footprint of the Rowland system. The company will collect soil samples across the property to evaluate tungsten and associated pathfinder elements that may help define mineralized trends. The company expects that soil geochemistry will be particularly useful at Rowland because the prospective skarn horizons may extend beyond the known workings and may not be fully reflected in historical surface mapping.
The Rowland Tungsten Property is located in the Jarbidge mining district of northeastern Nevada and has seen historical tungsten production, including reported high-grade tungsten ore shipments during the 1940s and additional production during the 1950s. Historical production figures are based on previous records and have not yet been independently verified by the company.
Western Star's goal is to define priority drill targets during the 2026 field season. The company will provide further updates as geophysical interpretations and laboratory assay results become available. The scientific and technical information in this release has been reviewed and approved by Jasper Mowatt, MAusIMM, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
The company's objective is to increase shareholder value through the development of exploration properties using cost-effective practices, acquiring further exploration properties, and seeking partnerships. This exploration program represents a significant step in advancing the Rowland property toward a drill-ready stage.
