Calibre Mining Corp. (TSX: CXB) (OTCQX: CXBMF) is pleased to announce initial results from exploration drilling completed during the fourth-quarter of 2019 at the La Libertad mine and the Amalia exploration property.

The program tested four zones of prospective epithermal-style gold mineralization at varying stages of development, ranging from active mining to pre-discovery exploration.  The Company completed 27 drill holes targeting the Jabali and Esmeralda deposits and the Buenos Aires gold system.  A further eight shallow drill holes were completed on two vein structures at the Amalia property.  The results will serve to further orient the Company’s 2020 exploration program for La Libertad and Amalia, which is part of the Company’s broader exploration strategy that includes the El Limon mine and Pavon advanced stage exploration project (see figures).

Highlighted Drill Results Include:

• Amalia 
  • 17.84 g/t Au over 7.0m Estimated True Width (“ETW”) from 60.6 metres depth in hole EZ19-001

• La Libertad 
  • 10.66 g/t Au over 1.7m ETW from 123.5 metres depth in hole JB19-473 
  • 2.59 g/t Au over 3.0m ETW from 38.0 metres depth in hole EM19-004 
  • 4.56 g/t Au over 1.1m ETW from 4.6 metres depth in hole PU19-004

Russell Ball, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “As highlighted by the shallow high-grade intercept, the Amalia property offers excellent potential for the discovery of additional mill feed for La Libertad.  The Amalia property encompasses a large system of low-sulphidation, epithermal gold structures that has had very limited modern exploration and no previous drilling.  Our 2020 exploration program is off to a great start and we have ramped-up to include four drill rigs between La Libertad and Amalia.”

At La Libertad, 27 drill holes totaling 3,429 metres were completed to begin testing the gold vein systems at the Jabali and Esmeralda deposits, as well as the Buenos Aires prospect which had not been previously drilled.

At Amalia (located approximately 35 kilometres northeast of the La Libertad mill) eight holes totaling 1,181 metres were drilled as an initial test of the Espinoza and Pavona vein structures. Six holes were drilled along a 250-metre section of the Espinoza vein structure to test the down-dip potential of anomalous gold grades identified from previous surface trenching, which has so far traced the structure over a one-kilometer strike extent. The first hole (EZ19-001) intercepted 7.0m averaging 17.84 g/t Au within 45 metres vertical depth from surface. Drilling is currently in progress to follow up on these positive initial results. (See a complete table of drill hole details at the bottom of this press release.)

At the Jabali underground mine, two infill holes were drilled to upgrade resource classification in support of mine planning and engineering design. At Esmeralda, results have been received for twelve of thirteen holes drilled along a 600-metre extension of the Esmeralda vein system as it continues beyond the past-producing Esmeralda open-pit.  Six of the holes intercepted near-surface gold mineralization over narrow widths and the results are being evaluated.  At Buenos Aires, first pass reconnaissance drilling targeted three vein structures exposed within a 3.5 km² area that is a site of widespread artisanal mining.  Significant surface trenching results at Buenos Aires range from 1.5m @ 7.1 g/t Au to 6.2m @ 2.3 g/t Au. Anomalous gold mineralization was confirmed along all three of the structures tested, including hole PU19-004 which intercepted 1.1 metres grading 4.6 g/t Au along the Pulpito structure.  Drilling results from the Esmeralda and Buenos Aires targets are being evaluated in combination with results from ongoing reconnaissance drill testing of other targets within the broader La Libertad property. 

2020 Exploration Program

Calibre’s exploration program during the first half of 2020 will include:

• Additional drilling at Amalia to follow-up on the strong results from hole EZ19-001, accelerated surface mapping and sampling along strike extensions of the Espinoza vein trend, as well as reconnaissance level prospecting over the Company’s 83 km² of mineral concessions;
   
• First-pass drilling at La Libertad to test the resource expansion potential along the vein systems in the Jabali, Rosario and San Antonio areas; and
   
• Reconnaissance drilling of the untested Tranca and Nancite vein systems located 500 meters south of Jabali.

The Company plans to complete approximately 20,000 metres of drilling at La Libertad and approximately 5,000 metres at Amalia during the first half of 2020. Results from the first half will form the basis for further exploration and resource delineation work during the latter half of 2020. All of the results of the Company’s 2020 exploration drilling will be incorporated into updated mineral resource and reserve estimates to be completed at year-end.  

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

Calibre maintains a Quality Assurance/Quality Control  program for all its exploration projects using industry best practices. Key elements of the QA/QC program include verifiable chain of custody for samples, regular insertion of certified reference standards and blanks, and duplicate check assays. Drill core is halved and shipped in sealed bags to Bureau Veritas in Managua, Nicaragua, an independent analytical services provider with global certifications for Quality ISO9001:2008, Environmental Management: ISO14001 and Safety Management OH SAS 18001 and AS4801. Prior to analysis, samples are prepared at Veritas’ Managua facility and then shipped to its analytical facility in Vancouver, Canada. Gold analyses are routinely performed via fire assay/AA finish methods. Analyses for silver and other elements of interest are performed via Induction Coupled Plasmaspectrometry (“ICP”).

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical data contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mark A. Petersen, P.Geo., VP Exploration, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

A complete summary of the drill hole assays and drill hole locations for Calibre’s 2019 drilling program at Amalia and La Libertad is provided in the following table. For additional details, please refer to the Company’s website at www.calibremining.com and the NI 43-101 Technical Report for La Libertad dated August 30, 2019, which is available at www.sedar.com.