Western Copper and Gold Files Year-End Financial Reports

March 24, 2014
Release 03-2014

VANCOUVER, B.C. Western Copper and Gold Corporation (“Western” or the “Company”) (TSX:WRN; NYSE MKT:WRN) has released its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2013.

This news release should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2013, and the notes thereto, and management’s discussion & analysis (“MD&A”) for the year ended December 31, 2013. All figures in Canadian dollars (“$”).

FINANCIAL POSITION

As at December 31, 2013, Western had $22.4 million in working capital, including $23.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments. This compares with $32.3 million in working capital, including $33.5 million in cash and cash equivalents as at December 31, 2012. During 2013, the Company spent $1.1 million on operating activities and $9.4 million on advancing the Casino Project. Western believes that its current working capital balance will be sufficient to complete the permitting and engineering of the Casino mine.

CASINO PROJECT

The Company’s permitting efforts over the past few years culminated with the submission of the Casino Project Proposal to YESAB for assessment in January 2014. This assessment process involves several steps after the submission of the Project Proposal concluding with the issuance of a Decision Document by YESAB. Once the Project receives the Decision Document, the next step is obtaining a Quartz Mining License (“QML”). The QML would allow the Company to begin construction of the mine. Western expects the timeline from the submission of the Project Proposal to YESAB to the issuance of the Quartz Mining License to be approximately 24 months. The final significant permit following the issue of the QML is the Yukon Water License.

The Casino Project is located primarily within Selkirk First Nation’s Traditional Territory. On March 12, 2014, Western and Selkirk First Nation announced that they have entered into an agreement relating to the Casino Project. The agreement commits the parties to work cooperatively to review, evaluate and discuss the Casino Project, provides for the establishment of a technical working group, and lays the foundation for establishing future agreements and protocols relating to the Project.

In 2014, the Company plans to continue working with regulatory authorities, First Nation, Territorial and Federal governments, and local communities to advance the Casino Project through the permitting phase and to ensure that the various concerns of stakeholders are addressed.

The Company also expects to continue to develop certain key engineering aspects of the project in 2014, particularly in regards to power supply, LNG supply chain, and project execution planning.

Read more: http://www.westerncopperandgold.com/_resources/news/nr_2014_03_24.pdf

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