Multiple High Grade Gold Zones Expanded At The Aureus East

TORONTO - Aurelius Minerals Inc. announced results from the nine-hole surface drilling element of the Phase 1 exploration program, and the final two holes of the Phase 1 underground drilling program, at the Aureus East Gold Project located in Nova Scotia, Canada. The surface drilling was focused on expanding the footprint of the mineralization along strike, width and at depth. The Company specifically targeted the limb structures and has confirmed the presence of high-grade gold in the steeply dipping limbs. All nine surface drill holes intersected gold mineralization, as did the two underground holes.

Mark N.J. Ashcroft, P.Eng, President and CEO, said, "The Phase 1 program at Aureus East was a resounding success on many fronts. We have confirmed the presence of multiple high-grade gold horizons, identified gold hosted in the host sediment rocks, significantly increased the size of the mineralized system, with an exceptional 100% success rate of intersecting gold mineralization in all drill holes and developed our knowledge of the system. The Aureus East system is larger than thought and the potential is ever more exciting, as we have tripled the depth extent and doubled the width in the core of the system in Phase 1, and the gold mineralization continues over 1.5km to the east. This unloved, misunderstood and under appreciated asset base, very much reminds me of the original FNX Mining model, which acquired brownfield and exhausted assets, put much needed exploration and technical work into them, and made them a significant success, eventually taking those assets back into production."

Aurelius commenced drilling on the Aureus East Project in late August 2020. In doing so, the Company was well positioned to carry out advanced exploration from the dewatered underground workings, previously developed to conduct a bulk sample on a series of repeated, stacked quartz veins. These quartz veins form a repeated chevron like pattern, running on an east-west orientation, comprised of a relatively flat lying hinge in the centre and then steeply dipping limbs proceeding outwards from the hinge. As discussed in further detail below, the execution of the Phase 1 underground and surface drilling program provided Aurelius an opportunity to successfully confirm new quartz veins at depth, investigate and confirm the potential for gold mineralization in the host sediment rocks and to successfully expand the influence of the limbs.

The Company realized early success from the Pad 1 drilling, as Hole AE-20-003 encountered over 30 new mineral horizons and extended mineralization to below 900m from surface. Holes AE-20-004 and AE-20-005 confirmed that Zone 9, a quartz vein horizon, demonstrates consistency in the occurrence of coarse gold, occurring at the contact between the quartz and sediment contact, and repeated. Zone 9 was intersected 10 times during Phase 1, over an 80m strike length, yielding 5 intervals above 25 g/t gold (including two samples greater than 120 g/t gold), and 2 intervals above 9 g/t gold. Hole AE-20-007 encountered multiple horizons including the highest grades to date, including 2.0m at 132.4 g/t gold, and very significantly, intersected 0.5m at 21 g/t gold in the floor of the drift, previously excavated for the 2018 bulk sample undertaken by previous operators. That information, combined with existing data in the historical database and a new underground survey, indicates that the prior operators likely missed the gold they were aiming to obtain in the bulk sample. The recent assays from the surface drilling program have provided significant new information as to the potential extent, and influence, of the limbs. The historical extent of the limbs has typically been limited to a length of 10-15m. The surface program demonstrates the limbs on the south of the project, appear to extend to lengths to over 100m, and has also demonstrated the presence of mineralized limbs on the north side of the project. This provides the Company with further targeting potential.

Jeremy Niemi, P.Geo, Vice President, Exploration, said, "Our Phase 1 program, included a surface drilling campaign designed to complement the hinge focused underground drilling by stretching the gold mineralization well to the south in near vertical concentrated veins. Expanding the gold mineralization in the limbs offers the opportunity to increase the contained gold per vertical meter and opens-up considerable volume to develop mineral resources. The under explored limbs are open in all directions and have been followed from surface down to a 500m depth so far."

The Phase 2 drill program at Aureus East commenced in April 2021 and is ongoing, with the underground drill focussing on defining the hinge zones and the surface rig drilling south limbs and specific hinge zones. Phase 2 is concentrated on the most advanced area on the property which is where the gold system is proximal to the underground development. This area includes 500m along strike (east-west) and down to a depth of 500m below surface. Surface drilling will continue to explore the under-drilled limbs and aims to expand them to the south and widen the extents of the gold mineralization. Drilling is planned to extend beyond this area in subsequent phases of drilling.

In conjunction with the drilling, surface mapping and sampling will seek additional new gold veins parallel to the main zone and to the north and south. The Aureus West deposit is approximately 800m south of the western limit of the gold mineralization at Aureus East and the gap between the two deposits is under explored and highly prospective.