NorthWest Copper posts palladium assays at Kwanika, highlighting potential for a by-product credit, British Columbia

NorthWest Copper Corp. [TSXV: NWST] reported palladium assay results from stored sample pulps collected from historical drilling at its 100%-owned Kwanika Project in British Columbia, highlighting the potential for palladium to provide an additional by-product credit.

Sample pulps from Kwanika have been stored since the 2007 drill program; however, palladium has only been systematically assayed since 2022. As a result, most of the assay database supporting the current mineral resource estimate does not include Pd values, representing an opportunity for value enhancement. Palladium, a designated critical mineral, is used primarily in automotive catalytic converters, with emerging use in fuel cells and hydrogen purification equipment. Its presence complements Kwanika’s exposure to copper, another designated critical mineral.

Recent drilling by the company has shown anomalous palladium levels, prompting a program to assay stored sample pulps. Earlier this year, samples were selected within known copper and gold mineralized zones and sent to a laboratory for analysis. Results demonstrate that certain mineralized zones have the potential to host payable palladium by-product credits, specifically Zones 2, 5, and 10. Highlights from the 2026 palladium assay program, expressed as drill intersections, are presented below and described in more detail later in this release.

Highlighted drill intersections including palladium (“Pd”) assay include hole K-07-15: 74.1 metres of 1.04% Cu, 1.48 g/t Au, 3.32 g/t Ag and 0.71 g/t Pd from 27.4 metres, K-07-33: 30.5 metres of 0.53% Cu, 1.28 g/t Au, 1.61 g/t Ag and 0.40 g/t Pd from 101.1 metres, K-07-51: 77.2 metres of 0.46% Cu, 0.70 g/t Au, 1.18 g/t Ag and 0.15 g/t Pd from 382.6 metres, K-07-53: 55.6 metres of 0.84% Cu, 0.80 g/t Au, 2.71 g/t Ag and 0.41 g/t Pd from 338.4 metres, K-07-54: 36.2 metres of 0.27% Cu, 0.72 g/t Au, 1.17 g/t Ag and 0.20 g/t Pd from 560.9 metres, K-07-55: 38.8 metres of 0.61% Cu, 0.67 g/t Au, 1.72 g/t Ag and 0.20 g/t Pd from 408.0 metres, K-08-60: 13.7 metres of 1.45% Cu, 1.88 g/t Au, 3.74 g/t Ag and 1.05 g/t Pd from 407.4 metres, K-18-184: 18.7 metres of 0.72% Cu, 1.24 g/t Au, 3.31 g/t Ag and 0.58 g/t Pd from 31.8 metres and K-21-211: 15.4 metres of 1.00% Cu, 0.86 g/t Au, 3.38 g/t Ag and 0.55 g/t Pd from 38.0 metres.

Geoff Chinn, VP Business Development and Exploration stated: “We are encouraged by these palladium results, as they create multiple opportunities for Kwanika. First, they provide the data required to estimate palladium grades and better understand their distribution, which is the first step in evaluating its potential as a by-product credit. Second, palladium can provide an exploration vector to the hottest, most saline parts of the system, which would help us to map core parts of the system and allow us to target potential extensions to known mineralized zones. Third, metallurgical recovery test work for palladium is incomplete. Recoveries to copper concentrate and/or doré are unknown and present an opportunity for future follow-up test work and process optimization. Kwanika is also strategically positioned to supply concentrates to smelters in the Americas and Asia. A clean copper concentrate containing gold, silver and platinum group metals should attract broader interest from smelters. Finally, palladium mineralization at these levels is another characteristic Kwanika shares with the producing New Afton copper-gold mine in British Columbia, whose geology provides an important analogue for our exploration and development model.”

A total of 3,653 stored sample pulps were collected from 66 holes and assayed for palladium. Previously, only 22% of the mineralized zones had palladium assays.

We expect these results to inform a palladium estimate to be included in the next mineral resource update, scheduled early in 2027. 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.