Including 54.2 g/t Gold, 71 g/t Silver, 1.26% Copper and 8.29% Zinc over 3.9 meters

HighGold Mining Inc. (TSX-V:HIGH) (OTCQX:HGGOF) is pleased to announce the first drill results of the 2022 field season from the Difficult Creek Prospect, located four km northeast of the Company’s 1.05 Moz indicated at 9.4 g/t gold equivalent JT Deposit (3.0 g/t AuEq cut-off grade). Difficult Creek is one of several district-scale prospects being explored by HighGold on the Johnson Tract project in Southcentral Alaska, USA.

Initial diamond drilling in 2022 has focused on the Difficult Creek prospect and the long-awaited follow-up to the exceptional grade intersection returned in hole DC21-010 drilled late last season which included 577.9 g/t Au and 2,023 g/t Ag over 6.40 meters (See HighGold news release dated October 6, 2021). New drilling in 2022 has been completed along strike to the east, west and down-dip from hole DC22-010 in fans of short, shallow step-out holes. Results to date are very encouraging and highlights from the first eight (8) holes for which assays have been received are detailed below (true thicknesses 70-90% of reported intersection length).

Drill Highlights of the Ellis Zone, DC Prospect

• 11.9m @ 21.68 g/t Au, 30 g/t Ag, 0.61% Cu, 4.20% Zn (25.3 g/t AuEq), in hole DC22-043, including
  • 3.9m @ 54.20 g/t Au, 71 g/t Ag, 1.26% Cu, 8.29% Zn (61.6 g/t AuEq), including
  • 1.4m @ 92.75 g/t Au, 138 g/t Ag, 2.22% Cu, 19.80% Zn (109 g/t AuEq)
• 42.8m @ 3.4 g/t Au, 23 g/t Ag, 0.21% Cu, 2.06% Zn (5.4 g/t AuEq), in hole DC22-036, including
  • 18.4m @ 7.29 g/t Au, 50 g/t Ag, 0.44% Cu, 3.92% Zn (11.2 g/t AuEq) including
  • 3.7m @ 18.00 g/t Au, 87 g/t Ag, 0.91% Cu, 4.05% Zn (22.9 g/t AuEq)
• 14.7m @ 4.0 g/t Au, 18 g/t Ag, 0.27% Cu, 4.18% Zn (7.3 g/t AuEq), in hole DC22-034, including
  • 5.6m @ 7.8 g/t Au, 36 g/t Ag, 0.49% Cu, 9.17% Zn (14.6 g/t AuEq)

“A priority of our 2022 drill program was to follow up on last year’s late season discovery at the DC Prospect to determine if the mineralization continued to depth and laterally along strike. This has been confirmed in our initial step-outs which have returned multiple intersections of high-grade mineralization, including subintervals of multi-ounce grade,” commented Darwin Green, CEO. “This emerging new zone of high-grade mineralization has been named the Ellis Zone in honor of the late Bill T. Ellis, who played a key role in the initial discovery and advancement of the Johnson Tract project and was a major force in the Alaska exploration community. We look forward to receiving the balance of the assays from the initial 25-hole detailed grid drilling program and completing additional larger step-outs along strike and to depth. We anticipate drilling through to the end of October as we continue to grow, what is shaping up to be, a potentially significant new zone at the Johnson Tract project.”

Discussion of DC Prospect and Ellis Zone Drill Results

The DC Prospect is located four kilometers northeast of the JT Deposit and is characterized by a series of large gossan alteration zones similar in style to the +1Moz AuEq JT Deposit that collectively extend over a 1.5 km x 3.0 km area in a broad northeasterly trend. Gold mineralization and pervasive clay/anhydrite alteration are preferentially developed within dacitic to rhyolitic fragmental rocks that are capped by a shallowly-dipping sequence of lesser altered andesite volcanics that are host to a gold- and silver-rich epithermal vein field at higher elevations. The widespread extent of mineralization exposed in erosional windows through the capping andesite supports potential for a large and partially blind mineralized system linking the various DC Prospect zones together over a strike length of 3 km.

Drilling in late 2021 resulted in the discovery of near-surface bonanza-grade mineralization, which returned 577.9 g/t Au and 2,023 g/t Ag over 6.40 meters in hole DC21-010. Subsequent geological modeling during the off-season inferred an east-west striking, steeply north-dipping trend to the mineralization that became the focus for the initial 2022 drill program at what is now referred to as the ‘Ellis Zone’.

Two drill rigs have been targeting the Ellis Zone at the Difficult Creek prospect since the beginning of July with 3,017 meters completed in 25 drill holes to date. Drill hole lengths typically range from 75 to 150 meters and have been completed as fans of holes in a close-spaced 12.5 to 25-meter grid pattern with the objective of further refining the geometry, geological controls, and grade distribution of this promising new mineralized zone. The drilling has now successively delineated an east-west striking zone of quartz-carbonate-sulfide veining and brecciation at shallow depths (<100m vertical) over core intervals up to 25 meters in length, with local narrow intervals of coarse-grained semi-massive to massive sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, and pyrite. Surrounding alteration consists of silicification and a widespread zone of semi-massive to massive pervasive nodular anhydrite and anhydrite veining. The veining and alteration are visually similar to that intersected at the main JT Deposit, located four (4) km to the southwest. To date, drilling has defined Ellis Zone mineralization over a strike length of approximately 100 meters and from surface to a depth of 100 meters. The Ellis Zone remains open along strike and at depth.

Details of the locations of 2022 drill holes completed to date can be found in Figures 1 and 2 with key assay intersections displayed in Table 1.

Next Steps for the DC Prospect

The bonanza-grade gold and silver assays from the DC Prospect remain a very important driver for the Company and a second round of drilling is planned for September/October to continue chasing the newly defined mineralization at depth and along strike. One drill rig will remain dedicated to continuing to expand the Ellis Zone for the rest of the drill season while the other drill rig will test important resource growth targets at the main JT Deposit, one of the other core priorities for the 2022 drill season.

2022 Summer Exploration Activities

Two diamond drill rigs are currently operating on the Project along with regional geological mapping, geochemical sampling, airborne drone-magnetic geophysical surveying, and preliminary environmental and engineering baseline studies. Approximately 65% of the planned 13,000-meter drill program is dedicated to DC prospect area with 25% for infill and step-out holes on the JT Deposit and the remaining 10% on regional prospects. A late start to the season (due to larger than normal snowpack) may reduce the total meterage completed in the 2022 field season to between 10,000 to 11,000 meters by the end of October.

To August 31^st, a total of 5,397 meters have been completed in 36 holes (28 at the DC prospect, six at the Milkbone prospect, one (1) at the Kona prospect, and one at the JT Deposit area). Assays results will be released on an ongoing basis pending review and meeting Company quality assurance-quality control protocols.

For information on Bill Ellis and his trail of discoveries in Alaska visit www.MiningNewsNorth.com

Table 1. Johnson Tract Project – DC Prospect – Ellis Zone – Significant Assay Intersections

True thickness for the reported intersections estimated at 70% to 90% of reported width. Gold Equivalent (“AuEq”) based on assumed metal prices of US$1650/oz for Au, US$20/oz for Ag, US$3.50/lb for Cu, US$1.00/lb for Pb and US$1.50/lb for Zn and payable metal recoveries of 97% for Au, 85% for Ag, 85% Cu, 72% Pb and 92% Zn.

About the Johnson Tract Gold Project

Johnson Tract is a polymetallic (gold, copper, zinc, silver, lead) project located near tidewater, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, USA. The 21,000-acre property includes the high-grade Johnson Tract Deposit (“JT Deposit”) and at least nine (9) other mineral prospects over a 12-kilometer strike length. HighGold acquired the Project through a lease agreement with Cook Inlet Region, Inc. one of 12 land-based Alaska Native regional corporations created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. CIRI is owned by more than 9,100 shareholders who are primarily of Alaska Native descent.

Mineralization at Johnson Tract occurs in Jurassic intermediate volcaniclastic rocks and is characterized as epithermal-type with submarine volcanogenic attributes. The JT Deposit is a thick, steeply dipping silicified body averaging 40m true thickness that contains a stockwork of quartz-sulphide veinlets and brecciation, cutting through and surrounded by a widespread zone of anhydrite alteration. The Footwall Copper Zone is located structurally and stratigraphically below JT Deposit and is characterized by copper-silver rich mineralization.

The JT Deposit hosts an Indicated Resource of 3.489 Mt grading 9.39 g/t gold equivalent (“AuEq”) comprised of 5.33 g/t Au, 6.0 g/t Ag, 0.56% Cu, 0.67% Pb and 5.21% Zn. The Inferred Resource of 0.706 Mt grading 4.76 g/t AuEq is comprised of 1.36 g/t Au, 9.1 g/t Ag, 0.59% Cu, 0.30% Pb, and 4.18% Zn (see Company news release dated July 12, 2022). The updated NI 43-101 Technical Report will be released within 45 days or before August 26, 2022. Gold Equivalent (“AuEq”) is based on assumed metal prices and payable metal recoveries of 97% for Au, 85% for Ag, 85% Cu, 72% Pb and 92% Zn from metallurgical testwork completed in 2022. Assumed metal prices for the Resource are US$1650/oz for gold (Au), US$20/oz for silver (Ag), US$3.50/lb for copper (Cu), US$1.00/lb for lead (Pb), and US$1.50/lb for zinc (Zn).

Prior to HighGold, the Project was last explored in the mid-1990s by a mid-tier mining company that evaluated direct shipping material from Johnson to the Premier Mill near Stewart, British Columbia.

About HighGold

HighGold is a mineral exploration company focused on high-grade gold projects located in North America. HighGold’s flagship asset is the high-grade Johnson Tract Gold (Zn-Cu) Project located in accessible Southcentral Alaska, USA. The Company also controls one of the largest junior gold miner land positions in the Timmins, Ontario gold camp. This includes the Munro-Croesus Gold property, which is renowned for its high-grade mineralization, and the large Golden Mile and Golden Perimeter properties. HighGold’s experienced Board and senior management team, are committed to creating shareholder value through the discovery process, careful allocation of capital, and environmentally/socially responsible mineral exploration.

Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng., Senior VP Exploration for HighGold Mining Inc. and a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release.

Figure 1. Johnson Tract Project – DC Prospect – Ellis Zone Plan Map with 2022 Drill Hole Locations (Graphic: Business Wire)

Figure 2. Johnson Tract Project – DC Prospect – Ellis Zone Vertical Longitudinal Section with 2022 Drill Hole Locations (Graphic: Business Wire)