VANCOUVER, B.C. Western Copper Corporation (“Western Copper” or the “Company”) (TSX:WRN) is pleased to announce commencement of a 15,000 meter diamond drilling program at its wholly owned Casino gold-copper-molybdenum project located in the Yukon.

The 2010 exploration program complements and continues last year’s drilling program. The aim of the program is to expand the resource by converting in-pit waste to ore and to provide data to improve the geological model of the deposit.

The 11,000 metres drilled during 2009 indicated a significant expansion of the known area of mineralization within the currently defined pit outline as defined in the 2008 pre-feasibility study, and discovered a new molybdenum zone (See news release dated November 18, 2009).

“2010 is shaping to be a crucial year for the Casino project” said Dale Corman, Chairman & CEO of Western Copper “At completion of the exploration program, we will update the reserve and use this information, together with expanded engineering studies, to update the pre-feasibility study. We anticipate that the exploration program will expand the reserve, lower the strip ratio and better define the technical parameters of the pit”.

The Casino project is located 380 km northwest of Whitehorse, Yukon and has a NI 43-101 compliant reserve estimate containing 8 million oz of gold, 4.4 billion lb of copper, and 475 million lb of molybdenum, contained in approximately 1 billion tonnes of ore.

ABOUT WESTERN COPPER CORPORATION

Western Copper is a Vancouver-based exploration and development company with properties containing significant copper, gold and molybdenum resources and reserves. The Company has 100% ownership of four Canadian properties. The two most advanced projects are the Casino Project and the Carmacks Copper Project, both located in the Yukon Territory. The Casino Project is one of the world’s largest open-pittable gold, copper, silver and molybdenum deposits. For more information, visit http://www.westerncoppercorp.com

On behalf of the board,

“Dale Corman”

F. Dale Corman
Chairman & CEO
Western Copper Corporation

For more information, please contact:

Paul West-Sells
Executive VP, Corporate Development

Chiara Orrigoni
Investor Relations

Call: 1.888.966.9995 or 604.684.9497
Email: info(at)westerncoppercorp.com

Cautionary Notes

This press release includes certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results and future plans and objectives of Western Copper Corp. are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Notice to US Investors: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms on this news release, such as “measured,” “indicated,” and “inferred” “resources,” that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in Western’s Form 20-F, File No. 000-52231, which may be secured from the Company, or from the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.