Tombill Mines Limited reported on its 2022 near-surface Phase 2A diamond drilling program that was designed to evaluate a number of newly defined gold targets distributed across two of the three 100%-controlled claim groups the Company holds in the Geraldton gold mining district of north-central Ontario. The Phase 2A drilling campaign consisted of eight NQ-diameter boreholes for a total length of 2,941 meters (m). Seven of the eight drill-holes are located on the 51-patented claim Main Group property ("Main Group") which adjoins on the west the mining property of Greenstone Gold Mines GP Inc. ("Greenstone") where a large open-pit gold mine is currently being constructed.

In addition, a single borehole was drilled on the smaller Original claim group property where the past-producing Tombill gold mine was located. Hole TB22-008, which is in the central part of the 6-patented claim Original property, yielded two core samples that assayed 2.61 g/t Au and 4.17 g/t Au. This drill-hole was designed to test for the eastward continuation of the Key Lake-Jellicoe Gold Corridor that in past decades was extensively drilled by various resource companies on claims now owned by Greenstone which is currently constructing an open-pit mine some 13 kilometers to the southeast.

According to Greenstone's NI43-101-compliant technical report1, the measured and indicated in-pit mineral resources of the Key Lake gold deposit are estimated to contain 141,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 1.16 g/t Au. An additional inferred resource is estimated to contain 82,000 ounces at an average grade of 1.39 g/t Au. The two intercepts of gold mineralization made by hole TB22-008 are from a 5- to 6-meter-wide zone of hydrothermally altered greywacke which is interpreted to be the extension of the east-southeasterly trending Key Lake-Jellicoe Gold Corridor that includes the Key Lake gold deposit.

In TB22-008, the gold-bearing zone is marked by moderate and pervasive sericite alteration of the foliated, fine-grained metasedimentary rock along with thin seams of quartz-sericite and veinlets of greyish quartz. Minor disseminated fine-grained pyrite accompanies the sericite alteration. This intersection of the Key Lake- Jellicoe Gold Corridor on the Tombill property is situated approximately 1,500 m east-southeast of the sealed shaft of the Jellicoe mine, a small gold producer in the late 1930's, and about 900 m east of Tombill's western property boundary.

The strike continuity of the mineralized corridor is noteworthy, being at least 3.3 km from Key Lake in the west to drill-hole TB22-008, and it appears to extend another 2.3 km further to the southeast to include the gold-quartz lodes of the former Magnet gold mine. The Ellis Syncline exploration target that was investigated on the Main Group by drill-holes TB22-002 through TB22-007 consists of an isoclinally folded package of Archean rocks dominated by greywacke, magnetite iron formation and quartz-albite porphyry. These lithologies and the fold structures they define on the property create a geological setting that has been interpreted to be analogous to the setting which hosts the multiple ore zones forming the multi-million-ounce Hardrock gold deposit being developed by Greenstone 3.5 km to the east.

Individual drill-holes were designed to test for sheared porphyry contacts and zones of sulphide replacement mineralization hosted in complexly folded iron formations. While the drill-holes testing the Ellis Syncline target did in fact encounter the anticipated lithologies and even several altered zones marked by thin quartz veins, moderate sericite alteration and minor pyrite mineralization, no significant concentrations of gold were identified by these drill-holes. The best result obtained from these holes was made by TB22-002 which passed through the closure or 'nose' of a large, folded quartz-feldspar porphyry dyke.

Three intersections of weak porphyry-hosted gold mineralization were made by this drill-hole; the interval 155-161 m yielded a maximum gold assay of 0.406 g/t Au, with the other two zones giving maximum assays of 0.428 g/t and 0.396 g/t gold.Drill-hole TB22-001A was designed to test for the westward continuation of a gold-bearing shear zone that had been identified by a few historical drill-holes passing beneath the north end of Mosher Lake, some 400 m beyond the eastern boundary of Tombill's Main Group. The targeted zone appears to have been intersected between 247.0 m and 258.0 m down-hole. The two best assays from this zone, were 0.356 g/t Au from a 1.0 m long sample of quartz-feldspar porphyry and 0.346 g/t Au across 1.0 m from a sample of greywacke at the contact with the porphyry.

Implications for Future Exploration: Drill-hole TB22-008 essentially confirms that the laterally extensive Key Lake-Jellicoe Gold Corridor passes through Tombill's Original claim group, with about 1,000 m of strike potential existing on the property from the hole itself to its western border extending to the Corridor. For a gold deposit comparable in size or larger than Greenstone's Key Lake deposit to discovered on Tombill's claims, a considerable amount of diamond drilling would be required, with many drill-holes yielding mineralized intersections that are significantly greater in length and with higher gold contents than what was obtained by hole TB22-008. Drill-holes TB22-002 through TB22-007 confirmed the existence of a geological setting, i.e., lithologies and structures, that is comparable to the litho-structural setting hosting the large low-grade Hardrock gold deposit being developed a few kilometers east of Tombill's drilling.

While the six drill-holes failed to discover a 'blind' zone of significant gold mineralization, the Company believes compelling exploration potential still exists in the favorable geology of the Ellis Syncline on the Main Group. The application of induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveying over the area of interest could assist in defining new drill targets, where chargeability anomalies might be indicating zones of gold-bearing sulphide replacement mineralization.