Nighthawk Gold Corp. (“Nighthawk” or the “Company”) (TSX: NHK; OTCQX: MIMZF) announces its 2023 Exploration and environmental programs at its district-scale property in Northwest Territories, Canada. Furthermore, the Company is pleased to announce the filing of its Technical Report (defined below) for the previously announced updated Mineral Resource Estimate¹ (“2023 MRE”) of the Colomac Gold Project (the “Project”).

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Figure 1 – Cass Deposit – Local Plan View Map (Graphic: Business Wire)

Nighthawk President and CEO Keyvan Salehi, P.Eng. commented: “Our aggressive exploration program over the last two years resulted in a successful 2023 MRE¹ that demonstrated an expansion of the open-pit (“OP”) mineralization for the Colomac Gold Project to what we believe to be a significant size and scale.”

“As the Project advances towards a preliminary economic assessment (“PEA”) by mid-2023, we are reprioritizing our exploration drilling. This year, we plan to drill between 20,000 and 25,000 metres (“m”), focusing on the expansion of the higher-grade, satellite deposits such as Cass, Damoti, and the 24/27 deposit in the Colomac Centre Area. We also plan to drill test the Leta Arm Zone, which are a series of grassroots targets, south of the Colomac Centre Area, that show a high potential for meaningful gold discoveries.”

“We are also prioritizing the permitting process for the Project considering that environmental responsibility is a core value for Nighthawk. We commenced environmental baseline studies last year and it will continue over the next couple of years.”

Mineral Resource Expansion Drilling

The Company continues its mineral resource expansion drilling in 2023, with a focus on the Cass, 24/27 and/or Damoti deposits. At the Cass deposit, the Company will test the potential extension of the higher-grade, near-surface mineralization to the west and the northeast of the deposit based on recent structural and geological modelling. At the 24/27 deposit, located within the Colomac Centre Area, Nighthawk will drill test the potential strike extension of the higher-grade, near-surface mineralization to the north of the deposit prioritizing the potential higher-grade zones identified by the 2022 electromagnetic (“VTEM”) survey. The drilling planned for the Damoti deposit would focus on mineral resource expansion of the deposit, both near-surface and at depth; drilling would target the nose of the folding structures where mineralization at the Damoti deposit appears to be concentrated, as identified by the updated structural model.

See Figures 1 to 3 for more details:

1. Cass Deposit – Local Plan View Map

2. 24/27 Deposit –VTEM Survey Map

3. Damoti Deposit – Isometric View Looking Northwest

Kim and Cass Property Option Agreement Fulfilled

The Company is pleased to announce that it has fulfilled its earn-in requirements as per the terms of the Kim and Cass Property option agreement. Since 2021, Nighthawk has paid an aggregate of C$1.1 million in total consideration and granted a 2.5% net smelter return (“NSR”) to Geomark Inc.; the Company has the right to purchase back up to 100% of the NSR for C$0.5 million increments up to C$2.5 million total.

Grassroots Exploration Drilling

The Leta Arm Zone is a series of grassroots targets along a 12-kilometre (“km”) shear zone located approximately 13 km south of the Colomac Centre Area and 8 km east of the Cass and Kim Deposits. Limited historical drilling and surface sampling at the Leta Arm Zone suggest high-grade, narrow vein mineralization at depth. Nighthawk believes the Leta Arm trend is an area of high potential for a meaningful gold deposit discovery based on historical work.

See Figures 4 and 5 for more details:

4. Leta Arm Zone – Local Plan View Map

5. Leta Arm Zone – Long Section View Looking West

Environmental Programs

The Company is initiating a series of environmental baseline studies as part of the Environmental Assessment for the Colomac Gold Project, which is a critical component towards receiving the permit to develop and operate the Project in the future. Nighthawk commenced its baseline environmental sampling and monitoring program in 2022 and will continue throughout 2023 and 2024.

2023 MRE¹ Technical Report

The Company announces today that it has filed a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") technical report titled “NI 43-101 Technical Report and Update of the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Indin Lake Gold Property, Northwest Territories, Canada” (the “Technical Report”), outlining 2023 MRE¹ as announced February 9, 2022. The Technical Report is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company website at www.nighthawkgold.com. Readers are encouraged to read the Technical Report in its entirety, including all assumptions, qualifications and exclusions that related to the 2023 MRE¹. The Technical Report is intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context.

During the final validation and completion of the Technical Report, minor adjustments were made to the Treasure Island deposit mineral resource estimate statement disclosed in the February 9, 2023 news release. Mineral resources adjustments are presented in Tables 1 and 2 of this release for the Treasure Island deposit and the Global 2023 MRE¹, respectively.

Table 1: Treasure Island deposit 2023 MRE Adjustment

Table 2: Global 2023 MRE¹ Adjustment (due to the revised Treasure Island estimate and rounding error)

About Nighthawk Gold Corp.

Nighthawk is a Canadian-based gold exploration company with 100% ownership of more than 930 km² of district-scale land position hosting a large underexplored greenstone belt, located approximately 200 km north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. The Colomac Gold Project currently has a Mineral Resource Estimate¹ of approximately 70.4 million tonnes grading 1.50 g/t Au for 3.39 million ounces in the Indicated category and approximately 24.3 million tonnes grading 2.17 g/t Au for 1.70 million ounces in the Inferred category. Nighthawk’s experienced management team, with a track record of successfully advancing projects and operating mines, is working towards demonstrating the economic viability of its assets and rapidly advancing its projects towards a development decision.

Qualified Persons

Technical information related to the 2023 MRE¹ contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Marina Iund, M.Sc., P.Geo., Carl Pelletier, P.Geo., and Simon Boudreau, P.Eng. of InnovExplo, who are Independent and Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101, with the ability and authority to verify the authenticity and validity of this data.

John McBride, MSc., P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for Nighthawk, who is the “Qualified Person” as defined by NI 43-101 for this project, has reviewed and approved of the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information with respect to the Company’s Mineral Resource Estimates, the potential extractability of the OP/pit-constrained and UG mineralization, the potential expansion of Mineral Resource Estimates, the potential for higher-grade assay results, the potential of the Project to be developed, the delivery of the PEA by mid-2023, the continued exploration and drilling initiatives and having the necessary funding required to complete these initiatives, the prospectivity of exploration targets, the potential economic viability of the assets, and the advancement of projects towards a development decision. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “add” or “additional”, “advancing”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, “appears”, “believes”, “can be”, “conceptual”, “confidence”, “continue”, “convert” or “conversion”, “deliver”, “demonstrating”, “estimates”, “encouraging”, “expand” or “expanding” or “expansion”, “expect” or “expectations”, “forecasts”, “forward”, “goal”, “improves”, “increase”, “intends”, “justification”, “plans”, “potential” or “potentially”, “promise”, “prospective”, “prioritize”, “reflects”, “scheduled”, “suggesting”, “support”, “updating”, “upside”, “will be” or “will consider”, “work towards”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might”, or “will be taken”, “occur”, or “be achieved”.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is made, and is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Nighthawk to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks associated with required regulatory approvals, the exploration, development and mining such as economic factors as they effect exploration, future commodity prices, changes in foreign exchange and interest rates, actual results of current exploration activities, government regulation, political or economic developments, the ongoing wars and their effect on supply chains, environmental risks, COVID-19 and other pandemic risks, permitting timelines, capital expenditures, operating or technical difficulties in connection with development activities, employee relations, the speculative nature of gold exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities of grades of reserves, contests over title to properties, and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as those risk factors discussed in Nighthawk's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2022, available on www.sedar.com. Although Nighthawk has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Nighthawk does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

¹ For more information on the 2023 MRE, please refer to the Company’s news release on February 9, 2023 and the NI 43-101 technical report titled “NI 43-101 Technical Report and Update of the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Indin Lake Gold Property, Northwest Territories, Canada” dated March 15, 2023 (“Technical Report”). Both are available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or the Company’s website (www.nighthawkgold.com)

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As the Project advances towards a PEA by mid-2023, we are reprioritizing our exploration drilling. This year, we plan to drill between 20,000-25,000 m focusing on the expansion of the higher-grade, satellite deposits: Cass, Damoti 24/27, & Leta Arm Zone