South Zone Strike Length Identified as 1.5 Kilometres and Remains Open to the West and at Depth

Argonaut Gold Inc. (TSX: AR) is pleased to announce that it has intersected 10.0m at 19.0 g/t Au, including 6.3m at 30.2 g/t Au and 3.1m at 47.1 g/t Au, including 1.3m at 112.0 g/t Au in the South Zone at its 100% owned Magino property in Ontario, Canada.  The South Zone has now been intersected in numerous drill holes extending from the border between the Island Gold mine and the Magino project westward over a strike length of 1.5 kilometres and remains open at depth and to the west.

Figure 1 – Plan Map of Magino showing the locations of drill holes in this news release and South Zone 1.5km strike length

The South Zone follows the contact of the Webb Lake Stock (granodiorite rocks) and volcanic rocks.  Drill hole MA20-057 was designed to test the South Zone at depth and below the western end of the planned Magino open pit in an area not previously drill tested.  The hole intersected two zones of very high-grade gold mineralization of 3.1m at 47.1 g/t Au and 10.0m at 19.0 g/t Au.  The best intercept, 6.3m at 30.2 g/t Au (included within 10.0m at 19.0 g/t Au), follows a series of aplite dykes (structures) along the contact of the granodiorite/volcanic rocks and shows the potential to connect to a previously drilled high-grade intercept in hole MA12-424, which intersected 7.6m at 29.4 g/t Au approximately 275m above hole MA20-057.

Figure 2 – Long section looking north showing 1.5km South Zone strike length in relation to the planned open pit and the Elbow and Central Zones, which are below the east end of the pit.  Drill hole MA20-057 high-grade gold intercepts are shown in relation to the aplite dyke and historical drill hole MA12-424

Figure 3 – View looking east showing Elbow, Central and South Zones in relation to the planned open pit

Pete Dougherty, President and CEO stated: “Our geology team at Magino has done remarkable work over the last two years in identifying the structural controls on the high-grade mineralization at Magino and has demonstrated this through an extremely high success rate of encountering high-grade gold at depth nearly everywhere we have targeted.  With intercepts now known over a strike length of 1.5 kilometres and the fact that this remains wide open to the west and at depth, the South Zone is another exciting zone that warrants much more follow up drilling.”

Table 1 below highlights select drill results from the on-going drill program.  A three-dimensional model of the Magino deposit and these drill results in relation to the planned open pit and property boundary is available on the Company’s website at https://www.argonautgold.com/English/assets/drill-results/default.aspx

Table 1: Select Drill Results

All table of all drill results as well as maps are available on the Company’s website at https://www.argonautgold.com/English/assets/drill-results/default.aspx

Brian Arkell, Vice President of Exploration commented: “We continue to encounter high-grade gold mineralization in several structural zones identified to date.  We are now recognizing the potential for the mineralized system to not only extend at depth, but also to the west of the main Magino ore body.  Evidence of this is drill hole MA20-058 that was a completely blind westward step-out some 200 metres from the main Magino deposit.  Also, in our high-grade intercepts at depth, as we encountered in drill hole MA20-057, we continue to see a lot of visible gold, which is frequent in this style of mineralized system.”

Visible gold in drill core from MA20-057 at Magino’s South Zone

Qualified Person Comments / Quality Control Procedures

The preparation of this press release was supervised and approved by Brian Arkell, Argonaut Gold’s Vice President Exploration and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.  Mr. Arkell also reviewed the diamond drilling, sampling, and on-site sample preparation procedures at Magino.

For sample analysis, the Company utilizes a system of Quality Assurance/Quality Control that includes insertion and verification of standards, blanks, and duplicates consistent with industry standards.

The Company has implemented a QA/QC program to ensure sampling and analysis of all exploration work is conducted in accordance with the CIM Exploration Best Practices Guidelines.  The entire drill hole is sampled and tagged by geologic personnel.  Cores are then photographed and sawn in half by experienced geotechnicians, placed in numbered plastic bags, and gathered in rice bags which are sealed with tamper-proof security tags under the supervision of the project geologists.  The other half of the core is retained for future assay verification and/or metallurgical testing.  Other QA/QC procedures include the insertion of coarse blanks and Canadian Reference Standards for every tenth sample in the sample stream. Samples are bagged, sealed with numbered security tags and shipped to the Activation Laboratories facility, Thunder Bay, Ontario, for sample preparation and assaying.  The laboratory has its own QA/QC protocols, running standards, blanks, and duplicate samples in each batch stream.  Gold analysis is conducted by lead collection, fire assay with a gravimetric finish on a 50-gram sample. Metallic screen fire assaying is now completed using a 1.0 kg sample and two 50 gm fire assays of the pass (-100 mesh) pulverized material on all samples containing visible gold.  Check assays are conducted at a secondary ISO certified laboratory.

Please see below under the heading “Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements” for further details regarding risks.

About Argonaut Gold

Argonaut Gold is a Canadian gold company engaged in exploration, mine development and production.  Its primary assets are the El Castillo mine and San Agustin mine, which together form the El Castillo Complex in Durango, Mexico, the La Colorada mine in Sonora, Mexico and the Florida Canyon mine in Nevada, USA.  Advanced exploration projects include the Magino project in Ontario, Canada and the Cerro del Gallo project in Guanajuato, Mexico.  The Company continues to hold several other exploration stage projects, all of which are located in North America.

Figure 1 – Plan Map of Magino showing the locations of drill holes in this news release and South Zone 1.5km strike length (CNW Group/Argonaut Gold Inc.)

Figure 2 – Long section looking north showing 1.5km South Zone strike length in relation to the planned open pit and the Elbow and Central Zones, which are below the east end of the pit. Drill hole MA20-057 high-grade gold intercepts are shown in relation to the aplite dyke and historical drill hole MA12-424 (CNW Group/Argonaut Gold Inc.)

Figure 3 – View looking east showing Elbow, Central and South Zones in relation to the planned open pit (CNW Group/Argonaut Gold Inc.)

Visible gold in drill core from MA20-057 at Magino’s South Zone (CNW Group/Argonaut Gold Inc.)