Kootenay Silver Inc. announced initiation of its' first quarter diamond drilling program at Columba Silver Project ("Columba") in Chihuahua, Mexico. The proposed program includes 15-17 drillholes for a combined 5,000 metres and is designed to expand upon previous intercepts along the highly prospective D-Vein target. Recent drilling in late 2023 focused on the "D-Vein" target, a silver bearing quartz-calcite-barite vein structure hosting the highest grades and widths yet seen at Columba.

D-Vein has been intercepted by drilling over a length of 450 metres horizontally and to a depth of 250 metres. Geological mapping and sampling indicate an additional 800 metres of prospective strike length before the interpreted D-Vein structure intersects with the trace of the B-Vein/F-Vein corridor. Highlights from the 2023 program include drilled widths such as 13.56 meters of 599 gpt silver, 8.19 meters of 532 gpt silver and 10.26 meters of 501gpt silver.

Characteristic features of drill intercepts at Columba drilling, and D-Vein in particular are broad zones of mineralized stock work adjacent to veins, as evidenced in CDH-21-110, CDH-22-125, CDH-23-138 and CDH-23-141 quoted in the D Vein portion of table above. The company has completed over 30,000 meters of diamond drilling in 147 holes at Columba since 2019 and intercepted numerous veins with high silver grades and widths indicating excellent resource potential. Prospective veins on the project are hosted within a volcanic caldera setting, the surface extent of mapped veins measuring roughly 4 kilometres by 3 kilometres.

Management believes that Columba may be a newly recognized vein district that is nearly entirely preserved from erosion. The current drilling program is designed to extend the D-Vein in preparation of a follow up program of likely 15,000 meters, aimed to delineate a maiden resource expected in late 2024 which is dependent on additional drilling beyond the 5000 meter program and the financing it requires. In addition to the D-Vein, the Company maintains a priority list of new vein targets and known vein extensions all warranting drill testing.

All technical information for the Columba exploration program is obtained and reported under a formal quality assurance and quality control ("QA/QC") program. Samples are taken from core cut in half with a diamond saw under the direction of qualified geologists and engineers. Samples are then labeled, placed in plastic bags, sealed and with interval and sample numbers recorded.

Samples are delivered by the Company to ALS Minerals ("ALS") in Chihuahua. The Company inserts blanks, standards and duplicates at regular intervals as follows. On average a blank is inserted every 100 samples beginning at the start of sampling and again when leaving the mineral zone.

Standards are inserted when entering the potential mineralized zone and in the middle of them, on average one in every 25 samples is a standard. Duplicates are taken in the mineralized intervals at an average 2 duplicates for each hole. The samples are dried, crushed and pulverized with the pulps being sent airfreight for analysis by ALS in Vancouver, B.C. Systematic assaying of standards, blanks and duplicates is performed for precision and accuracy.

Analysis for silver, zinc, lead and copper and related trace elements was done by ICP four acid digestion, with gold analysis by 30-gram fire assay with an AA finish. All drilling reported is HQ core and was completed by Globextools, S.A. de C.V. of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.