Emphasis On Newly Discovered High-Grade Gold And Silver Mineralization

VANCOUVER - Ophir Gold Corp. reported plans for a diamond drill program at the Company's Breccia Gold-Silver Property, located approximately 40 km southwest of Salmon, Idaho. The 2022 drill program will follow on the heels of the fall 2021 drill program, which returned significant intervals of precious metal mineralization associated with the Breccia Gold Zone on the Property.This drill program, planned for the second half of 2022, will include 1,000 meters over four (4) to five (5) holes, and prioritize following-up on the high-grade silver intersection returned at the bottom of drill hole BG21-005 (6,940 g/t Ag over 9.5 m(1)), and the high-grade gold-silver intersection returned in drill hole BG21-004 (13.02 g/t Au and 46.6 g/t Ag over 7.4 m).

Drill hole BG21-005, the western most drill hole competed in 2021, encountered a significantly clay altered breccia over most of its length and was abandoned at 185.3 m due to difficult drilling conditions, just short of the intended target depth. The last two sampled intervals from BG21-005 returned highly anomalous silver of 8.6 g/t Ag and 6,940 g/t Ag, respectively; although, core recoveries were poor in the final sample (<10%), they do represent a 9.5 m interval (175.9 m to 185.3 m). These end-of-hole result remain very significant and corelate with a 'western zone' of precious metal mineralization identified in multiples drill holes (BG21-003A, 004, 005, and 006). These results are supported by the recently released Controlled Source Audio Magneto-Telluric ("CSAMT") survey data, indicating drill hole BG21-005 ended at the very top of the mineralized zone .

The northernmost drill hole from 2021, BG21-004, returned the most well-mineralized gold-silver intercept of the program. The results of BG21-004 (13.02 g/t Au and 46.6 g/t Ag over 7.4 m) suggest considerable potential to the north along the Meadows Fault Zone. The Breccia unit, which largely defines the fault zone, has been mapped over significant distance to the north where it is also coincident with a large Au-Sb in soil anomaly, as well as numerous surface rock gold occurrences. In addition, BG21-004 forms part of the western zone of precious metal mineralization identified in multiple drill holes, including BG21-005, and also correlates to a distinct band of resistivity as defined by the CSAMT survey data.

"We had tremendous success with our 2021 program, confirming the existence of the high-grade precious metal mineralized breccia reported by Groves in 1983. We are also excited to see that the high-grade mineralization appears to correlate with a 100-500 ohm-m resistivity corridor that stretches over 1,000 meters along strike and more than 500 meters depth. Drilling encountered what could be a major high-grade silver zone at the bottom of Hole 005, which is why we have set this newly discovered zone as our highest priority for follow up in 2022," said, Shawn Westcott, CEO.

The area surrounding drill holes BG21-005 and 004 are included in the drill plan submitted to the United States Forestry Service (USFS) for the Company's five (5) year Plan of Operations which is anticipated to be approved for early summer 2022. The permit, once received, will allow the Company to explore the Property for five consecutive years, under the same authorization, providing significant advantages and flexibility for follow-up diamond drilling on the Property. Subject to securing a qualified drill contractor, as well as receiving the Plan of Operations, the Company expects to begin the drill program in summer, 2022.

The main Breccia Gold Zone is thought to represent the uppermost regions of a low-sulphidation epithermal system. Given the spatial relationship between high-grade gold veins and near vertical, north to northwest orientated structures that occur directly above or proximal to observed high-resistivity, and the possible intrusive system in the east-central part of the Breccia Property, a vein-type or intrusion related gold system is also considered.

Our understanding of precious metal mineralization at Breccia is evolving with the addition of further geological and geophysical data, suggesting enhanced potential for high grades of gold/silver mineralization at the Breccia Gold Zone, to the north along the Meadows Fault Zone, and to the east of the immediate Breccia Gold Zone Trend.