Western Star Resources Mobilizes Field Team to Rowland Tungsten Property for Modern Exploration Program
Western Star Resources has launched the first modern exploration program at its past-producing Rowland Tungsten Property in Nevada, using drone geophysics and geochemistry to define drill-ready targets by the end of 2026.
Western Star Resources Inc. (CSE: WSR) (OTC: WSRIF) (FRA: 4K2) announced that its technical team has mobilized to the Rowland Tungsten Property in Elko County, Nevada, USA, 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. This marks the first modern exploration program on the past-producing tungsten system, which has never been evaluated using these advanced techniques.
Key highlights of the program include the commencement of a high-resolution drone magnetic survey to map intrusive contacts, structural corridors, and potential skarn/tactite zones across the property. Field crews will also conduct systematic prospecting of historical workings, waste dumps, pits, trenches, and adits previously identified through LiDAR review and field compilation. Portable XRF screening will be used to rapidly assess tungsten and associated pathfinder elements in waste dumps and altered material.
Additionally, a property-wide soil sampling campaign has been launched to define tungsten geochemical trends across the broader land package. Drone geophysical results are expected in the coming weeks, subject to contractor processing and interpretation timelines. Soil samples will be submitted for certified laboratory analysis, with assay results to be released following review and interpretation.
Blake Morgan, CEO and President of Western Star, 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. Historical production at Rowland includes reported high-grade tungsten ore shipments during the 1940s and additional production during the 1950s, though these figures have not been independently verified by the company.
The geological setting of the Rowland Tungsten Property is in the Jarbidge mining district of northeastern Nevada, where tungsten mineralization is associated with skarn/tactite development along contacts between evolved intrusive rocks and carbonate-bearing sedimentary units. Tungsten skarns commonly form where granitic intrusions react with carbonate rocks, with scheelite as the dominant tungsten mineral. Previous disclosure describes scheelite occurring with molybdenite, powellite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and limonite in a garnet-epidote-quartz-calcite skarn assemblage, with skarn and hornfels zones up to 100 feet wide developed along the intrusive contact.
The combination of drone magnetics, prospecting, XRF screening, and soil geochemistry is intended to help the company identify structural corridors, intrusive contacts, concealed skarn zones, and geochemical anomalies. Western Star expects to receive preliminary processed geophysical products in the coming weeks, which will be integrated with field mapping, LiDAR interpretation, historical workings, and geochemical data to prioritize targets for follow-up work.
The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Jasper Mowatt, MAusIMM, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Western Star Resources is a mineral exploration and development company advancing the Rowland Tungsten Property in Nevada, with additional claims in British Columbia.