Los Osos Program Intersects High-Grade Gold

VANCOUVER - Salazar Resources Limited announced initial assay results from the wholly-owned Los Osos project in El Oro, Ecuador. The first two holes, OSO-01 and OSO-02 were completed in December 2020, at depths of 644 meters (m) and 576 m respectively. The holes focused on hydrothermal breccias and intrusive diorites with porphyry copper-gold potential. Encouragingly, the drilling has intercepted significant zones of mineralization that are consistent with a large-scale gold system with 244 m of broad mineralization encountered in drill hole OSO-01.

Fredy E. Salazar, CEO, said, "Los Osos is the first 100% Salazar Resources-owned project that we have drilled since 2017, and we are encouraged that the first hole intersected continuous mineralization from surface for 244 meters, and that OSO-02 intersected high-grade gold in veins. The Cangrejos-Portovelo region is host to both significant gold-copper porphyry deposits as well as high grade vein structures. We look forward to completing this Phase 1 program soon, as part of what is going to be an extremely active year for the company. In Q2 we will start our Phase 1 drill program at Ruminahui, to be followed by Phase 1 drilling programs at Los Santos and Macara Mina respectively."

OSO-01 successfully intersected hydrothermal breccias, 0.1 to 3% chalcopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite, clay alteration (sericite + chlorite), quartz veining, veinlets, and stockworks, with elevated to anomalous gold mineralization. All of which indicates that the hole was drilled into the upper part of a mineralized porphyry system.

The best continuous run of gold grades was present in the metamorphic (quartzitic) host rocks in OSO-01 from surface to 63 m downhole, with an average of 0.58 g/t gold and 0.02% copper over 69 m. Within this run, an interval of 3 m returned 4.59 g/t gold and 0.03% copper from a depth of 25 m. Salazar interprets the higher gold grades in the top section to be a function of a weathering process that caused some enrichment in the oxidized zone. OSO-01 continued into breccias and intrusions that were mapped in old workings, and gold and copper were present throughout the entire hole. The intersection of 244 m @ 0.31 g/t gold and 0.06% copper from surface is highly encouraging. It is also worth noting that not a single sample was below detection limits in the 644 m hole.

OSO-02 was collared in a >200 ppm copper-in-soil anomaly on a slope. It is possible the copper anomaly has been displaced down slope and the source of the anomaly is further up slope, near the overlapping copper and gold soil anomalies near point B’. In OSO-02, three veins returned grades above 1 g/t gold, with a maximum of 22.9 g/t gold within a 1 m sample at a down hole depth of 319 m, containing a 30 cm thick vein. In addition, a 1.2 m sample from 337.85 m to 339.05 m returned 2.5 g/t gold, and a 1.75 m sample from 539.00 m to 540.75 m returned 1.4 g/t gold. Furthermore, only seven samples of approximately 2 m each in the 576 m hole were below detection limits, suggesting that OSO-02 is on the margin of a mineralized system.

The multi-hole drill program targeting a large area of unexplored potential at Los Osos is continuing. OSO-03 will be drilled using a rig owned by Andes Drill, Salazar's wholly-owned drilling subsidiary, once it becomes available. The rig is currently completing an infill drilling program at El Domo, and is anticipated to be free within three to four weeks. Based on surface work, the target for OSO-03 is a prospective area to the north of OSO-01 that has coincident copper and gold anomalies in soil.