Vancouver, British Columbia – TheNewswire - March 24, 2022 – Au Gold Corp (TSXV:AUGC) (“AUGC” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce it has received the necessary permits to conduct its inaugural  diamond drill program at its road accessible Ponderosa epithermal gold project 16 km southwest of Merritt, BC.  The fully funded drill program will comprise a minimum 1,500 m of diamond drilling  in 10-14 holes to be conducted by Superior Diamond Drilling Inc. of Powell River, BC.  Phase I drilling is expected to commence in April and will target the Tomahawk and Flat Iron Zones in the central part of the property.

Highlights:

• Fully funded diamond drilling of 1,500 m in 10-14 holes to commence in April. 

• Targeting 15 m wide auriferous bedrock vein exposure at Tomahawk that has never been drill-tested. 

• Targeting 25 m wide historical auriferous zone at Flat Iron that has never been drill-tested. 

President & CEO Marc Blythe commented “We are very happy to have received our permits and get started on the next phase of exploration at Ponderosa.  The Company has conserved funds while waiting for permits, continuing to hone its exploration plan and prepare to drill.  The infill soil sampling carried out in 2021 highlights additional exploration potential on other lower priority, but still significant targets at Ponderosa.”

Tomahawk Zone

The Tomahawk Zone is currently exposed for 55 m along a north-northeast strike and 15 m across the widest continuous exposure.  Dips are moderate to steep toward the west between 45 and 70 degrees.  Mineralization and alteration comprise high level angular volcanic breccias with multiple phases of silica cement and stockwork style veining; tan to orange-brown clay altered volcanic often finely fractured with multiple generations of clear to white sheeted quartz; and massive to weakly crustiform banded opaque and white quartz veining.  Select saw channel samples from hand trenches defining the zone returned 3.99 g/t Au and 14.9 g/t Ag across 1 m of quartz veining and 0.63 g/t Au across 1.25 m of adjacent altered volcanic.  The vein zone remains open along strike and the hanging-wall contact has not been delineated.

Flat Iron Zone

The Flat Iron Zone is interpreted as an offset continuation of the Tomahawk Zone and lies 100 m to the south-southeast across a property scale easterly trending structure.  Historical trenching in this target area encountered a broad zone of altered and silicified volcanic strata with localized quartz vein material from which a 25 m interval reportedly returned a weighted average grade of 0.80 g/t Au.  The historical report documents seven chip samples (0.5 to 1.0 m) within the interval exceeding 1 g/t Au to a maximum of 7.54 g/t Au across 1.0 m.  In addition, a narrow parallel zone of similar mineralization and alteration was identified by historical trenching approximately 60 m to the east.  Samples of quartz-rich mineralization from this zone reportedly returned 1.24 g/t Au across 4.0 m.  

Further assessment of the Flat Iron target by AUGC in 2021 mapped out two roughly 30 m wide parallel north-northeast trending zones of rusty clay altered and weakly silicified volcanic with numerous concentrations of localized quartz vein material ranging in width from several cm’s to 25 cm.  This surface vein mineralization was traced 70 m along strike to the south-southwest from the reported historical trench locations.  A series of composite surface samples consisting only of quartz vein material from the two parallel zones returned values ranging from 0.10 g/t Au to 1.02 g/t Au.  None of the altered volcanic was sampled.

A single historical drill hole was collared east of the trenches with an azimuth to the west to test what was interpreted as an easterly dipping target, however, nothing of significance was encountered.  AUGC believes the Flat Iron target has similar geometry to the Tomahawk Zone with a moderate dip to the west, so it is likely that this historical drill hole tested parallel to the target.  Accordingly, drill-testing of both the Tomahawk and Flat Iron targets will be designed to test the west dipping target.      

Detailed Soil Sampling

During 2021, the Company carried out detailed infill soil sampling to better understand the context of historical anomalies and the impacts of glaciation on the property.  A total of 679 samples were collected from six individual grids along an 1800 m trend through the central part of the property.  Grids were established over specific target areas as follow-up to the newest lineament structural analysis completed from the geophysical and UAV surveys.  Sampling was done at 25 m intervals along lines spaced 25 m apart with samples collected by hand auger to depths where soil could be definitively identified as B-Horizon or as deep as possible if identification was uncertain.  It should be noted that not all sample sites penetrated the till profile.

The majority of the detailed grid soil sampling increased the tenor of existing sample data for both gold and arsenic values, expanded the continuity of existing anomalies and provided better internal vectoring within broader anomalies for identifying potential mineralized zones.  Thresholds used to contour gold and arsenic are unconventionally low but the presence of glacial till and the interpretation of the underlying alteration and mineralization representing a high-level low sulphidation epithermal gold system is the primary consideration for this methodology.

Option Grant

The Company has granted 150,000 options to a consultant of the Company at an exercise price of $0.10 for five years.  These options vest immediately.

Qualified Person

All scientific and technical information in this press release has been prepared by William Wengzynowski, P. Eng., a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Wengzynowski is the Exploration Manager for Au Gold Corp.

Ponderosa Gold Property

The Ponderosa Gold Property is located 16 km southwest of Merritt, BC, within the Spences Bridge Gold Belt which forms a northwest trending belt roughly 180 km long and up to 24 km wide.

Exploration by AUGC and others, notably Westhaven Gold Corp., has identified the potential for gold associated with low-sulphidation epithermal mineralization (quartz-adularia).  Examples of this style of mineralization include Kupol (Kinross Gold Corp.), Hishikari (Sumitomo Metal Mining) and Fruta Del Norte (Lundin Gold).

Rocks of immediate interest in the belt and underlying much of the Property comprise successions of Cretaceous subaerial and pyroclastic volcanic flows which host significant gold mineralization at Westhaven Gold Corp.’s Shovelnose project approximately 20 km southeast of the Ponderosa Gold Property.  Geology across the Ponderosa Gold Property claim group is broadly divided into two Cretaceous age volcanic sequences comprising subaerial and pyroclastic volcanic flows of the Pimainus and Spius Formations.

Historical exploration at Ponderosa focused almost exclusively on an in-situ occurrence referred to as “Axel Ridge”, which is characterized by outcropping cryptocrystalline/saccharoidal to crustiform and colloform banded epithermal quartz. A series of trenches were excavated across these outcropping exposures with highlights including 2.22 g/t gold over 11.7 m, 1.92 g/t gold over 14.0 m (with 3.03 g/t gold over 8.0 m) and 3.6 g/t gold over 7.0 m. Follow-up diamond drilling of seven holes at Axel Ridge was unsuccessful in intersecting the surface mineralization at depth.  AUGC is not planning any exploration at Axel Ridge at this time.

Work conducted in 2019 and 2020 significantly upgraded three historic showings and identified an entirely new showing. These showings in order of priority are referred to as the Tomahawk, Flat Iron, T-Bone and Rib Eye zones. The Tomahawk Zone is the most advanced and highest priority showing on the Property.

The Ponderosa Gold Property is located within the unceded traditional territory of the Nlaka’pamux People.

Further information on the Property can be found on the Company’s website: https://www.augoldcorp.com/ponderosa-property/.

Cautionary Note

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

Au Gold Corp

Marc G. Blythe, MBA, P.Eng., President & Chief Executive Officer

Sandrine Lam, Investor Relations Phone: 1-604-687-3520 Ext. 250

Email: info@augoldcorp.com

To learn more visit: https://www.augoldcorp.com

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. STATEMENTS IN THIS NEWS RELEASE, OTHER THAN PURELY HISTORICAL INFORMATION, INCLUDING STATEMENTS RELATING TO THE COMPANY'S FUTURE PLANS AND OBJECTIVES OR EXPECTED RESULTS, MAY INCLUDE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE BASED ON NUMEROUS ASSUMPTIONS AND ARE SUBJECT TO ALL OF THE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES INHERENT IN RESOURCE EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT. AS A RESULT, ACTUAL RESULTS MAY VARY MATERIALLY FROM THOSE DESCRIBED IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS.