High Grade Gold Veins Below El Creston Pit At The La Colorada Mine

TORONTO - Argonaut Gold Inc. has discovered high grade gold veins below the El Creston open pit at its La Colorada mine in Sonora, Mexico. The high grade intercepts include: Drill hole 20-LCRC-592 intersected 12.2 meters at 98.9 g/t Au and 30.3 g/t Ag, including 3.0 meters of 383.0 g/t Au and 113.5 g/t Ag; and Drill hole 20-LCRC-562 intersected 21.3 meters at 44.6 g/t Au and 274.9 g/t Ag, including 3.0 meters of 283.1 g/t Au and 858.0 g/t Ag.

Pete Dougherty, President & CEO, said "It has always been our intension to drill test below the El Creston pit to determine whether the La Colorada mine has the potential to transition from an open pit mine to an underground mine in the future.  These high-grade gold and silver results vastly exceeded our expectations and obviously warrant follow up drilling.  We are excited to continue exploration at depth at La Colorada, as we work to determine if a future underground mine is viable.  The initial gold and silver grades encountered are clearly encouraging."

Argonaut's exploration drilling at La Colorada has intersected several high-grade veins extending below the planned El Creston ultimate pit.  The high-grade zones are deep extensions of the gold rich veins now being mined within the El Creston open pit and display good lateral continuity along strike.  The first drill program was conducted using a reverse-circulation ("RC") drill rig and focused on testing for down dip extensions of the three main vein sets within the El Creston open pit. The RC drilling was conducted using industry best practices with drill samples collected on 1.5 meter intervals using down hole centre-face return hammer bits, cyclone collection and riffle splitters to reduce contamination and maintain clean, accurate samples.  To further confirm high-grade gold and silver intercepts in RC drilling, Argonaut completed three twin diamond drill core ("DD") holes to validate the RC sample assays.  All drilling was above or near the top of the water table, in competent rock, and recoveries in both the RC and DD holes are considered excellent.  Since the El Creston pit is actively being mined, the DD twin holes were drilled from lower benches and therefore the down-hole distance of the RC holes and DD holes vary slightly, and the twin intervals are close though not a perfect match.  

Brian Arkell, Vice President of Exploration, said, "During 2020, we added 130,000 gold ounces to reserves at La Colorada, and we see significant potential to add additional mineralization this year as well.  When we initially encountered the high-grade gold and silver RC sample assays, we were determined to twin multiple holes with a DD rig to validate metal tenure.  The DD assays compare reasonably well to the RC assays, and we plan on continuing the program with a DD rig going forward.  I am extremely proud of our local team's discovery record and look forward to our next steps, as we continue to test the continuity of these high-grade gold and silver veins at depth."