Updates On Gold Road Project In Arizona

ROAD TOWN, BC - Aura Minerals Inc. provided an update on the status of the Gold Road Project located in Arizona. Gold Road is a narrow vein underground gold mine located in the historical Oatman mining district of northern Arizona, northeast of the California-Nevada-Arizona border and 40 kilometers southwest of Kingman, Arizona. Historical gold production from the Oatman district has been over two million ounces with Gold Road contributing approximately 746,000 Oz of production.

The Company completed the indirect acquisition of Gold Road pursuant to its acquisition of all of the shares of Z79 Resources, Inc.. Pursuant to the Acquisition, Gold Road also indirectly acquired various options to acquire parcels of land adjacent to Gold Road.

Since the Acquisition, exploration drilling and preparations for re-starting the underground mine have been the main activities at Gold Road. Preparations for re-starting the underground mine include development of the first 3-D ore model of the deposit and a mine plan based on inferred resources, personnel recruitment, contract miner negotiations, mining equipment mobilization to site, ventilation studies, utility installations and waste haulage to the surface.

The Gold Road Mine is permitted for substantially higher throughput compared to current capacity and, based on historical production, the crushing system has extra capacity that would reduce capital requirements for an expansion up to double the current throughput. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Aura intends to begin expansion study options.

Aura initiated a multi-phase drilling campaign in the 2nd quarter of 2020 to both upgrade portions of the inferred mineral resource to measured mineral resource and indicated mineral resource categories and to further delineate the extent of the deposit, which is open down plunge and to both the east and west along strike.

The first phase of the diamond drilling campaign includes approximately 12,900 feet of drilling in 33 holes. The objective of this phase of drilling is to confirm and support the mine plan by upgrading inferred mineral resource blocks to the measured mineral resource and indicated mineral resource categories. Drilling started in the 3310 zone (figure 1), which initially is the highest priority stope for development in the mine plan.

The results of first 4 drill holes were very successful and confirmed projected grade from the inferred mineral resources in the current mine plan. They intersected wider intervals than estimated in the preliminary 3-D ore model. These holes delineate resource blocks up to 200 ft below the current mining level in this zone.

The second phase of drilling, scheduled for 2020 and 2021, focuses on additional promising extensions of the ore body that are down plunge and along strike. The objective is to increase the life of mine by expanding the inferred mineral resource.

Aura also intends to evaluate the exploration potential outside of Gold Road but within the 5,100+ acres of land owned or controlled by Aura in the Oatman gold district. Two historically mined veins on this acreage, known as the TR-UE Vein and Gold Ore veins, run parallel to the Gold Road vein. Structural and surface mapping are expected to be conducted along these parallel veins in Q4 of 2020.