Continuation Of More Gold And Silver From Drilling At Eureka Project

COEUR D'ALENE, ID - Timberline Resources Corporation reported on the 2022 drilling program at the Eureka Project in Nevada. These five holes tested the northern limits of the Water Well Zone (WWZ) and exploration targets farther north. Four of the five holes were drilled with diamond core and one was a reverse circulation (RC) hole. In aggregate, these five holes constitute approximately 2,263 meters of the recently completed 6,662-meter drill program at Eureka.

Four of the five drill holes encountered significant gold mineralization, while two holes intersected significant silver-lead-zinc. Some important conclusions from these drill holes are: (1) confirmation that the Carlin-type gold system continues to the north of a major fault zone bounding the north of the WWZ; and (2) confirmation of silver-lead-zinc mineralization related to granitic intrusions (carbonate replacement deposits or "CRD" type) in the north Lookout - WWZ area.

Two of the holes (BHSE-221C and 238C) were offsets of BHSE-220C, which encountered significant thickness of high-grade gold (44.2m at 4.10 g/t Au, see Company news release dated March 24, 2022). BHSE-237C and 239C pushed north across the fault zone into younger Ordovician rocks, and BHSE-236 was a big step across the valley into a new target area based on high gold in surface sampling.

Patrick Highsmith, President and CEO, said, "These drill holes are our first test of the major fault zone that cuts through the northern part of the Lookout Mountain and Water Well deposits. One of the holes hit a nice zone of +3 g/t gold, as we have come to expect from the Water Well Zone. The overlapping Carlin type gold and older CRD silver mineralization is becoming an earmark of the Eureka Gold Belt, now in evidence at various places along more than 8km of the trend. Drill hole BHSE-237C cut more than 200m of strongly enriched silver. We look forward to reporting more results from south Water Well Zone and the Oswego target during the fourth quarter."

The four core holes were all collared in the northern part of the WWZ. Based on geologic mapping, geophysics, and limited drilling, Timberline geologists have been modeling a major fault zone, termed the Relay Zone, occupying the valley north of the WWZ. The target horizon in the WWZ is the base of the Dunderberg shale, near its contact with the Hamburg formation. Drillholes BHSE-221C, 237C, and 238C were drilled to test the structures and thick gold zone reported from BHSE-220C. All three of these drill holes penetrated highly broken and sheared rocks of Cambrian and Ordovician age. The target horizon has been offset by faulting in this area, and in some cases the faulting has resulted in thinning of the Dunderberg and/or Hamburg formations. Hence, the gold mineralization encountered in these holes is generally thinner than expected.

The robust zone of gold mineralization in BHSE-238C occurs in a lower unit of the Dunderberg, and there is also gold mineralization in the upper Hamburg (up to 3.1 g/t over 1.5m). However, the hole continued downward through highly disrupted, sheared, and brecciated limestones and at least one porphyritic dike before terminating in carbonaceous limestone, likely to be Ordovician in age.

BHSE-237C cut a truncated section of Dunderberg shale that was only weakly mineralized before passing into more broken, sheared, and brecciated limestone. Below a likely fault zone, this hole also encountered multiple porphyritic dikes cutting altered, pyritic, and carbonaceous limestone. The altered limestone and dike material was host to the significant long runs of low and high grade silver with variable lead, zinc, and anomalous gold. Zinc and lead values exceed 1.0% in close association with sulfide veinlets but are generally in the hundreds or low thousands of ppm.

In addition to the major terrane-bounding fault zone that was likely penetrated by BHSE-237C, 238C, and 239C, drilling in this area also identified lesser faults (shown in blue) that break up and offset the Cambrian section in the WWZ. There is growing evidence that proximity to these faults may result in the highest grade and thickest gold zones in the Lookout and WWZ deposits. BHSE-220C cut almost 200 gram-meters of gold mineralization that appears to be associated with such faults, including a high-grade section of 12.2m grading 9.2 g/t.

BHSE-221C was collared approximately 50m southeast from the high-grade hole, but it encountered a thinner section of Dunderberg characterized by extensive fracturing, shearing and other evidence of faulting. There was a narrow zone of gold mineralization in 221C, but it was not as well developed as in the main body of the WWZ. Below that, the hole encountered weakly mineralized Hamburg and then passed into the underlying Secret Canyon formation. At the base of the Secret Canyon, associated with carbonaceous and sulfidic breccias, there was another horizon of gold mineralization (6.1m at 1.83 g/t gold). This is the first intercept of gold at the contact between the Secret Canyon and Geddes formations in the WWZ, but this horizon has long been believed to be an attractive host in the district.

BHSE-239C was collared well to the west from the known high-grade in the WWZ, and the resulting geology in the upper part of the hole is consistent with the downdip extension from the Lookout Mountain resource. There is a lower grade gold intercept in the predicted horizon at the base of the Dunderberg and the top of the Hamburg is weakly anomalous in gold. Below that there is evidence of shearing, faulting, and abundant carbonaceous breccias, some of which are associated with significant gold intercepts. There are also several quartz-feldspar-biotite dikes, having both porphyritic and equigranular (fine to medium grained) textures. The lower half of the hole is characterized by extensive disseminated fine-grained pyrite. These sections of breccia, faulting, and intrusive dikes with abundant pyrite may be part of the Ordovician section and may also host silver and base metal mineralization.