Drilling Commences At Ayawilca Zinc-Silver Project

VANCOUVER - Tinka Resources Limited reported that it has commenced a 7,000 meter drill program at the Ayawilca zinc-silver project in central Peru. The 20-hole program is anticipated to take approximately three months to complete. The timing of the completion of the drill program may vary as a result of the Company's health and safety measures implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The drill program has two objectives: firstly, to convert inferred resources to indicated resources in areas at the project with thick, high grade zones of mineralization; and, secondly, to test for extensions of zinc and silver mineralization down-dip of known zones in several planned step-out holes. Later in the program, step-out holes will also be drilled to test new exploration targets at the Colqui Silver Zone.

Two drill rigs are on site and will test the extensions of the high-grade mineralization within the Ayawilca Zinc Zone (West and South areas - Figure 1). A third rig is expected to be added to the program by the end of October. Hole A20-169 is designed to test a zone within the inferred resource which is 50 to 75 meters down-dip of hole A18-118 which intersected 23.9 meters grading 9.2% zinc & 15 g/t silver from 270 meters and 9.8 meters grading 17.0% zinc & 25 g/t silver from 334 meters. Hole A20-170 is testing an area 70 meters from A17-071 which intersected 12.6 meters grading 11.6% zinc & 35 g/t silver from 332 meters depth.

President and CEO, Graham Carman, said, "It is exactly 12 months since Tinka was last drilling at Ayawilca, and our team is very excited to be back drilling again after what has proven to be a challenging year due to the severe impact of the pandemic in Peru. This will be a busy time for the Company, as we aim to increase our mineral resource inventory especially in the indicated resource category as well as test new targets. We are targeting two styles of mineralization; zinc-rich massive sulphide mineralization typical of the Ayawilca Zinc Zone, and silver-rich mineralization which occurs in carbonate veins and replacements on the margins of the sulphide deposit. We expect to release the drill results as soon as they become available and can be interpreted within the context of our geological model. Tinka has put in place enhanced health protocols to keep our employees, contractors and community workers as safe as possible."