Ashanti Gold Expands Gourbassi East Gold Zone, Kossanto East Project, Mali

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept.19, 2017(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ashanti Gold Corp. ("Ashanti" or the "Company") - (TSXV:AGZ) is pleased to announce results for the final eight drill holes from the recently completed 53 Reverse Circulation ("RC") hole, 6073 metre drill program that tested mineralization on the Kossanto East Project (the "Property") in western Mali. These results complete the Company's reporting of drill results for their recent Kossanto East drill program.

Figure 1. Map of historic drilling (blue collars) and Ashanti current drilling (red collars). Figure 2.Results from drill hole GERC150 and GERC151 (shown here) reveal the presence of another mineralized zone parallel to the main zone.The extent of this mineralization remains to be tested.

• 20 metres @ 1.00 g/t Au including 5 metres of 2.00 g/t Au (GERC146)
• 7 metres @ 1.52 g/t Au including 2 metres @ 3.53 g/t Au (GERC150)
• 8 metres @ 1.65 g/t Au (GERC151)

The set of results reported here (Table 1) represent drill holes that were intentionally positioned to test lateral, strike, and depth extensions of mineralization. Importantly, holes 150 and 151 show mineralized intersections along >100m of a new strand of mineralization ~80m east of and parallel to the known main mineralized zone (Figures 1 and 2). The strike and dip extent of all areas of mineralization remain open at Gourbassi East. In addition, the presence of gold mineralization in numerous targets to the northeast presents new opportunities for expanding the global gold content for the project.

Tim McCutcheon, CEO, said, "It is impressive that the drill results from our first drilling campaign at both Gourbassi East and Gourbassi West demonstrate opportunity to expand the strike, width, and dip extents of mineralization at these two key targets which both exceed 1 km in length and are locally up to more than 100m in width."

*The Company advises that drill holes are oriented to intersect stratigraphy at an optimal angle, however true widths cannot be determined as detailed information on the true orientation of stratigraphy at the point of intersection of the drill hole is not available. Quality control is monitored by the insertion of blind certified standard reference material and blanks at a rate of 1/20 samples. Blind duplicate splits are inserted into the sample stream at the rate of 1/50 samples. In addition, the laboratory inserts their own certified standard and blank samples at the rate of 1/20 samples. All samples have been analyzed by SGS Laboratories in Bamako, Mali an internationally known testing company.

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Figure 1. Map of historic drilling (blue collars) and Ashanti current drilling (red collars).

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b23e395a-148d-485c-8636-cc4c6736ddeb

Figure 2. Results from drill hole GERC150 and GERC151 (shown here) reveal the presence of another mineralized zone parallel to the main zone. The extent of this mineralization remains to be tested.

About Kossanto East Project
The Kossanto East Project is a 66.41 km² concession in the prolific Kedougou - Kenieba Inlier, the northwestern most exposure of Birimian rocks in West Africa and host to the Loulo and Sadiola group of world class gold deposits. The Property hosts two principle historically drill-tested targets, Gourbassi East and Gourbassi West and several surface anomalies identified in historic surface samples and Rotary Airblast (RAB) drill holes. Geochemical anomalies identified by previous explorers and Alecto Minerals PLC led to drill testing and successful intersection of gold mineralization.

ABOUT ASHANTI GOLD

Ashanti is a gold-focused, exploration and development company with advanced projects in the northern Ashanti Belt of Ghana and the Kenieba Belt of Mali. The Company targets projects where existing work demonstrates attractive potential for near-term mine development and where it has a competitive advantage due to past work experience of the team and specific project know-how.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of
ASHANTI GOLD CORP.

"Tim McCutcheon"

Tim McCutcheon
CEO

For further information, please contact:
Ashanti Gold Corp.
2300 - 1177 West Hastings Street
Vancouver BC, V6E 2K3
Phone: 604-638-3847

Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance
Dr. Paul Klipfel, CPG (AIPG certification #10821), Ashanti's COO and Chief Geologist is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian NI 43-101 and has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Dr. Klipfel is responsible for all aspects of the work including the Quality Control/Quality Assurance programs. Dr. Klipfel is not an Independent Person, as he is a shareholder of Ashanti.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

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.

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement, timing and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSXV acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.