HighGold Mining Inc. announced very encouraging results for reconnaissance surface exploration sampling and drilling at the Johnson Tract project in Southcentral Alaska, USA. Results are presented herein for the Milkbone, greater Difficult Creek, Easy Creek and Kona regional prospects that are located within the northern half of the Project area and 2 to 7 km on trend from the 0.75 Moz indicated 10.9 g/t gold equivalent JT Deposit mineral resource. HighGold completed geological mapping, geochemical sampling and geophysical surveys in 2021 concurrent with the resource expansion drill program with the objective of assessing the potential for new zones of high-grade mineralization across the district-scale property.

The work successfully outlined multiple priority target areas for future drilling related to the prospective 6-km long regional Milkbone Fault system while also advancing the geological knowledge base for the Project. An initial phase of scout drilling at Difficult Creek was also completed, with the balance of remaining results reported herein (10 holes). The regional Milkbone fault transects this target area and both it and related subsidiary faults appear to have an important control on mineralization and will be drill tested for the first time during the 2022 field season.

Taken collectively, these multiple layers of supporting data significantly enhance the priority of Easy Creek targets. The Kona prospect, bearing a similar geophysical signature to Easy Creek, is located somewhat lower stratigraphically than DC and the JT Deposit and may represent a portion of the deeper roots of the large-scale Johnson Tract mineralized system. Geological mapping and rock and soil geochemical sampling focused primarily on underexplored regional prospects including the Milkbone, greater Difficult Creek, EC and Kona prospects.

The Company also completed 31 line-km of ground-based direct-coupled induced polarization geophysical surveys and 267 line-km of detailed airborne drone magnetic surveys. Encouraging assay results have been returned in both rock and soil sampling across the length and breadth of the Property. A 150m wide gold-in-soil anomaly was defined with values >70 ppb Au.

Rock sampling by the Company in 2021 returned up to 7.85 g/t Au and 599 g/t Ag in quartz vein brecciaalong with high base metals to 5.0% Cu over 1m (chip sample) and 10.05% Zn, 7.56% Pb and 1.44% Cu (grab sample). Follow-up soil sampling immediately north of the 4.39 g/t Au-in-soil collected in 2020 returned a very encouraging 8.38 g/t Au-in-soil over the trace of the Milkbone Fault. These results for the Milkbone represent both the highest-grade soil sample (8.38 g/t Au) and the highest-grade rock sample (184 g/t Au) within the entire Johnson Tract surface database.

Plans are being designed to test this highly prospective target during the 2022 drill program that will include testing the main Milkbone fault, which is obscured from direct observation due to overburden cover, as well the +1km long corridor that is defined by elevated gold in surface sampling between Milkbone and Middle DC. This drilling will be in addition to systematic follow-up drilling planned at Middle DC. The Difficult Creek (“DC”) prospect is located four (4) kilometers northeast of the JT Deposit and is characterized by a series of large gossan alteration zones similar in style to the JT Deposit that collectively extend over a 1.5 km x 3.0 km area.

Mineralization at DC occurs as base metal- and sulphide-rich quartz-carbonate veins and breccias within pervasively sericite-pyrite ± clay/anhydrite altered, shallowly dipping dacitic volcaniclastic rocks that underly a capping sequence of less altered andesitic volcaniclastic rocks, intruded by quartz-feldspar porphyries. These capping rocks host silver- and gold-rich epithermal-style veins at higher elevations. The widespread extent of mineralization and pervasive alteration exposed along structures and in erosional windows through the andesite supports the potential for a large and partially blind mineralized system linking the various prospects.

Drilling by the Company in 2021 returned exceptional grades of 577.9 g/t Au and 2,023 g/t Ag over a 6.4m width in hole DC21-010 at the Middle DC prospect at shallow depths. The first follow-up drilling of this important new discovery will be a top priority for 2022. Rock sampling carried out in 2021 by the Company from Middle DC to Upper DC in an area cut by northeast-trending and northwest-trending faults and/or splays related to the Milkbone Fault system returned 3,480 g/t Ag and 0.61 g/t Au (float sample), 1,450 g/t Ag and 7.98 g/t Au over 1m (chip sample),and 11.10 g/t Au and 69 g/t Ag (grab sample); all in epithermal-style quartz veins.

Rock sampling of quartz-sulphide veins returned highs of 4.30 g/t Au, 6.1% Zn, 4.4%Pb, 0.5% Cu (grab sample), and 4.53 g/t Au, 38.6 g/t Ag, 18.60% Pb, 4.36% Zn, 1.40% Cu (grab sample). The Kona prospect is located 2.5 kilometers north of the JT Deposit and is characterized by large (0.5 x 1.0 km) zone of sericite-pyrite (± quartz) alteration that is cored by a large quartz-pyrophyllite alteration zone. Mapped alteration closely correlates with a strong IP chargeability high with a smaller, circular magnetic high on its eastern margin.

The chargeability anomaly at Kona was tested with two drill holes during the 2021 program which intersected intense disseminated pyrite and local vuggy silica type alteration. New results are reported for ten (10) scout drill holes (DC21-017 to DC2-026) that tested the Central Fault (3 holes) and Upper DC vein field (7 holes), which represent separate targets located 300 to 1000 meters away from the previously reported high-grade mineralization discovered at the Middle DC target. All holes from the greater Difficult Creek Prospect area have now been reported, with assay results for 13 holes from the JT Deposit area and two holes from the Kona Prospect still pending.

Central Fault drill holes tested below clay-anhydrite alteration at surface that is associated with a topographic lineament. These holes intersected broad intervals (10s of meters) of alteration associated with elevated to anomalous gold values (50 ppb to 600 ppb Au) around a large fault structure (Central Fault). Upper DC drill holes tested beneath Ag-rich epithermal-style veins sampled during the 2020 field season.