Commencement Of 2021 Drill Program With Mobilization Of Roadwork Crews At The Breccia Gold Property

VANCOUVER - Ophir Gold Corp. has commenced its maiden 2021 diamond drill program at the Breccia Gold Property (the "Property"), where it holds an Option to earn 100% interest. The Property is located approximately 40 km southwest of Salmon, Idaho, and may be accessed directly by road. The roadwork contractors have mobilized to site and begun to prepare access to the first series of drill sites. The drill rig and field crews are anticipated to mobilize over the next week and begin set-up for the initial drill hole collar of the program. The drill holes will test at depth, and along strike in the core area of a 1.5 km gold-bearing trend, where the surface sample results returned from the Breccia Zone included a historical 4,621-ton (4,192-tonne) surface cut bulk sample with a reported average grade of 0.335 oz/t Au (~11.5 g/t Au). The program will also target the East Breccia Zone, where in 2020 a new high-grade vein system was discovered trending parallel to the main Breccia Zone. Outcrop samples of the veins returned 57.6 g/t Au and 19.6 g/t Ag; and 30.2 g/t Au and 7.4 g/t Ag, and highlight the strong potential for discovery on the Property.

The target exploration model at the Property is low-sulphidation epithermal and is supported by coincident anomalous geochemistry (Au, Ag, As, Sb) with lack of base metals, presence of bladed quartz replacing calcite, and sheeted veins. Collectively, these features suggest a very low level of erosion and strong potential for significant gold mineralization at depth.

The Company is fully permitted for up to 45,900 ft (~13,900 m) of diamond drilling on the Property with the initial spring/summer program anticipated to consist of at least 10,500 ft (~3,200 m). In addition, the Company intends to complete a Property-wide controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotellurics (CSAMT) ground geophysical survey at the Property over the summer months. The purpose of the CSAMT survey is to map silicification and structure at depth related to the hydrothermal system with the overarching objective to refine drill hole targets to test for a high-grade mineralized body at depth that is feeding the high-grade quartz-veined breccias observed at surface. The CSAMT survey is also anticipated to trace the Breccia Zone to the south where magnetic data indicates it continues under alluvium cover.

In addition, Ophir announces that, pursuant to its stock option plan, it has granted an aggregate of 845,000 options to purchase common shares in the capital of the Company to certain directors, officers and consultants of the Company, exercisable at a price of C$0.21 per share for a period of five (5) years from the date of grant.