NorthWest Announces Updated Mineral Resource at Kwanika Reflecting Strategic Shift to Higher-Grade Copper-Gold Focus

Press Release

TORONTO, March 02, 2026 — NorthWest Copper Corp. (“NorthWest” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: NWST) is pleased to announce an updated mineral resource estimate for the Kwanika Central deposit at its 100% owned Kwanika-Stardust Project, (the “Project”), comprising the Kwanika Central, Kwanika South, and Stardust deposits. NorthWest plans to use the updated Mineral Resource estimate to support an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) targeted for completion in mid 2026.

Paul Olmsted, CEO of NorthWest, commented: “This updated Mineral Resource Estimate represents a significant milestone for the Company and reinforces our strategy of prioritizing higher-grade copper and gold mineralization at Kwanika. The update is an excellent result, demonstrating a substantial Mineral Resource base from which to develop preliminary open pit and underground mine plans that can support a long mine life. Importantly, the results mark a major step toward our goal of a more capital-efficient, top-down underground mining approach, including sub-level caving and sub-level retreat mining methods. In addition, the significant open pit component should help de-risk the early years of a mine schedule, particularly with the potential for a higher-grade starter pit. With this milestone achieved, our immediate focus shifts to advancing the Project toward completion of a PEA in mid-2026. We believe this next phase of work will further demonstrate the opportunity to deliver a more economically compelling Project relative to the 2023 PEA as we continue to advance Kwanika toward development.”

Highlights Kwanika Central Deposit:

• Indicated Mineral Resource: 16.22 million tonnes (“Mt”) grading 0.63 % Cu, 0.74 g/t Au, 2.0 g/t Ag or 1.27 % CuEq¹, for 226.6 million lbs (“Mlbs”) of Cu, 383 thousand ounces of gold and 1,035 thousand ounces of silver.
• Inferred Mineral Resource: 28.97 Mt grading 0.48 % Cu, 0.63 g/t Au, 1.5 g/t Ag or 1.05 % CuEq, for 307.6 Mlbs of Cu, 589 thousand ounces of gold and 1,393 thousand ounces of silver.
• Open Pit Mineral Resources:
  • Indicated Mineral Resource: 8.99 Mt grading 0.55 % Cu, 0.51 g/t Au, 1.8 g/t Ag or 0.98 % CuEq, for 109.5 Mlbs of Cu, 148 thousand ounces of gold and 512 thousand ounces of silver.
  • Inferred Mineral Resource: 9.18 Mt grading 0.33 % Cu, 0.35 g/t Au, 1.0 g/t Ag or 0.63 % CuEq, for 66.1 Mlbs of Cu, 104 thousand ounces of gold and 300 thousand ounces of silver.
• Underground Sub-Level Cave (“SLC”) Mineral Resources:
  • Indicated Mineral Resource: 7.23 Mt grading 0.73 % Cu, 1.01 g/t Au, 2.3 g/t Ag or 1.64 % CuEq, for 117.0 Mlbs of Cu, 235 thousand ounces of gold and 523 thousand ounces of silver.
  • Inferred Mineral Resource: 19.8 Mt grading 0.55 % Cu, 0.76 g/t Au, 1.7 g/t Ag or 1.24 % CuEq, for 241.5 Mlbs of Cu, 485 thousand ounces of gold and 1,093 thousand ounces of silver.
• The Mineral Resource estimate for Kwanika Central was supported by verified data, robust geological models, well-defined mineralized zones, constrained by informed open pit shells and underground sub-level cave mining shapes and optimized to support mid-size bulk mining open pit and sub-level cave mining studies.
• Technical sub-studies on metallurgical variability testing and power are now underway to support an updated PEA targeted for completion by mid 2026.

Geoff Chinn, VP Business Development and Exploration added: “The updated Kwanika Central Mineral Resource differs in several important ways from previous estimates. Mineralized zones have been more clearly defined and separated into higher-grade and lower-grade zones, as well as into gold and copper dominant zones, fundamentally re-mapping our understanding of the deposit. We have also recognized that sub-parallel, wide mineralized zones are separated by zones of host rock. Notably, this is the first time Mineral Resources has been disclosed with a top-down sub-level cave mining method in mind. A key feature of sub-level cave Mineral Resources is that all material within the preliminary caving shape is considered without a cut-off grade. To illustrate this, we note that approximately 24% of the sub-level cave volume comprises host rock within the mining envelope. As the Project advances to the PEA stage, a goal will be to manage dilution. Two key initiatives aimed at achieving this goal include advancing higher resolution mine designs and processing technologies like ore sorting, as disclosed in our February 23, 2026, News Release.”

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