News Releases

NEWS RELEASE

December 22, 2015

WESTERN COPPER AND GOLD ADVANCES PERMITTING

VANCOUVER, B.C. Western Copper and Gold Corporation (together with its subsidiaries, “Western” or the “Company”) (TSX: WRN; NYSE MKT: WRN) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Casino Mining Corp., has submitted the second Supplementary Information Report for the Casino Project to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Board.

The Company submitted its second supplemental information report as required by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act (“YESAA”) process on December 18, 2015. Including the most recent submission, and at this point in the YESAA process, the total application submitted represents over 14,000 pages of information and over three years of engagement with regulatory agencies and Federal, Territorial and First Nation Governments.

In addition to the significant body of technical work submitted with the YESAA application, the Company has voluntarily initiated a number of programs outside of the YESAA process to ensure continued and expanded technical and community input into the project. These programs include:

• Creating working groups to discuss matters related to the tailing management facility and wildlife;

• Committing to ongoing review of the tailings management facility by an Independent Engineering Review Panel;

• Joining the Mining Association of Canada, which commits Western to following the Towards Sustainable Mining Initiative; and

• Becoming a signatory to the International Cyanide Code.

The purpose of the assessment process is to incorporate concerns, views and mitigation from a broad range of stakeholders into the project plan. In Western’s view, this process is limited until the screening phase begins. It hopes that the latest supplemental information report will be sufficient to begin the screening phase of the assessment process.

On behalf of the board,

“Dale Corman”

Dale Corman

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

For more information, please contact Paul West-Sells, President and COO or Chris Donaldson, Corporate Development at 604.684.9497, or by email at info@westerncopperandgold.com.