Collective Mining Expands its Recent Discovery at the Donut Target with Broad Intercepts from Near Surface Including 108 Metres @ 1.13 g/t Gold Equivalent

TORONTO, April 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Collective Mining Ltd. (TSXV: CNL) (“Collective” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce assay results for the final five diamond drill holes completed in late 2021 at the Donut Target (“Donut”) as part of its maiden drill program at the Guayabales project (“Guayabales”), located in Caldas, Colombia. The Company presently has four diamond drill rigs operating at Guayabales and plans to complete a minimum of 20,000 metres of drilling in 2022. The 2022 program will focus on expanding upon the recently announced Olympus Central discovery hole of 302 metres @ 1.11 g/t gold equivalent while also testing for the first time a suite of new targets including but not limited to Victory East, Victory West, Olympus South and Apollo.

Highlights (See Table 1 and Figures 1 – 2)

• Five additional diamond drill holes have expanded Donut to the southwest, northeast and northwest and continue to outline a drill defined mineralized zone that begins at surface and extends vertically for at least 250 metres where it remains open for further expansion.
• All five drill holes being reported herein have intercepted broad and continuous mineralization hosted predominately in breccia and consisting primarily of gold and silver with lesser amounts of copper and molybdenum as follows:
  • Drilled steeply to the north-north-east in an area with no prior drilling, DOC-6 intercepted 151 metres @ 0.74 g/t gold equivalent from 58 metres depth including 30 metres @ 1 g/t gold equivalent from 58 metres down hole;
  • Drilled steeply to the north-east in an area with no prior drilling, DOC-7 intercepted 142 metres @ 0.63 g/t gold equivalent from 13 metres depth;
  • DOC-8 was drilled to the north to undercut DOC-2 (see press release dated October 18, 2021) and intercepted 108 metres @ 1.13 g/t gold equivalent from 18 metres depth, including 2.5 metres @ 15 g/t gold equivalent from 28 metres depth;
  • DOC-9 was drilled at a shallow angle to the southwest in an area with no prior drilling and intercepted 69 metres @ 1.39 g/t gold equivalent from 5.4 metres depth; and
  • DOC-10 was drilled steeply to the northwest between DOC-2 and DOC-1 and intercepted 176 metres @ 0.84 g/t gold equivalent from 53 metres depth including 46 metres @ 1.10 g/t gold equivalent from 53 metres depth.
• Donut is located at the northeast end of a southwest trending zone of outcropping breccia targets which, to date, have been traced to the southwest for 550 metres along strike and remains open for further expansion to the southwest.
• As announced previously (see press release dated November 15, 2021), porphyry mineralization was encountered in drill hole DOC-5 and given that banded quartz-magnetite veins cutting diorite porphyry at depth and as common clasts in breccia at shallower levels have been observed in drilling to date, the Company believes there is excellent potential to discover a large porphyry system nearby to the Donut discovery. As a result, deep penetrating geophysics are planned for the near term with follow up drilling to commence upon interpretation of the results.
  
  

“Over the course of the past year, Collective has drilled five grassroots generated targets and made three significant new discoveries, two of which are at the Guayabales project and one at the San Antonio project. In my career, I have never been involved in projects as prospective as our current portfolio. We plan on remaining aggressive for the balance of 2022 and will focus on expanding the mineralization at Olympus Central, where we recently drilled the discovery hole yielding 302 metres from near surface at 1.11 g/t gold equivalent. Additionally, over the next two weeks we will begin drilling at the Apollo target, which is characterized by coincidental copper and molybdenum soil anomalies blanketing outcropping porphyry related veins and breccias. By the middle of Q2, 2022 maiden drill programs will begin at the Victory East and Victory West targets, both of which are large scale copper and gold porphyry targets. Finally, drill programs to test the high-grade vein system at Olympus South and the porphyry potential at Donut will commence in early Q3, 2022,” commented Ari Sussman, Executive Chairman.

Table 1: Assay Results for drill holes DOC-6 – DOC-10

* AuEq (g/t) is calculated as follows: (Au (g/t) x 0.95) + (Ag g/t x 0.017 x 0.95) + (Cu (%) x 2.06 x 0.95) + (Mo (%) x 6.86 x 0.95), utilizing metal prices of Cu – US$4.50/lb, Mo – US$15.00/lb, Ag – $25/oz and Au – US$1,500/oz and recovery rates of 95% for Au, Ag, Cu and Mo. Recovery rate assumptions are speculative as no metallurgical work has been completed to date.
** A 0.1 g/t AuEq cut-off grade was employed with no more than 10% internal dilution. True widths are unknown, and grades are uncut.

Figure 1: Plan View of the Guayabales Project Highlighting the Donut Target
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1811d333-0275-41df-a665-d5ada19f8db2

Figure 2: Plan View of the Donut Target Area
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/37201ee8-2162-46fa-8231-a2a9186aaf9b

About Collective Mining Ltd.

Click HERE to view our latest corporate presentation, or find it at www.collectivemining.com

Collective Mining is an exploration and development company focused on identifying and exploring prospective mineral projects in South America. Founded by the team that developed and sold Continental Gold Inc. to Zijin Mining for approximately $2 billion in enterprise value, the mission of the Company is to repeat its past success in Colombia by making a significant new mineral discovery and advancing the projection to production. Management, insiders and close family and friends own approximately 40% of the outstanding shares of the Company and as a result are fully aligned with shareholders. Collective currently holds an option to earn up to a 100% interest in two projects located in Colombia. As a result of an aggressive exploration program on both the Guayabales and San Antonio projects a total of twelve major targets have been defined. The Company is fortuitous to have made significant grass root discoveries on both projects with near surface discovery holes at the Guayabales project yielding 302 metres 1.11 g/t AuEq at the Olympus target and 104 metres @ 1.3 g/t AuEq at the Donut target. At the San Antonio project, the Company intersected from surface 710 metres @ 0.53 AuEq. (See press releases dated October 18^th and 27^th, 2021 and March 15, 2022 for AuEq calculations.)

Qualified Person (QP) and NI43-101 Disclosure

David J Reading is the designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) and has reviewed and verified that the technical information contained herein is accurate and approves of the written disclosure of same. Mr. Reading has an MSc in Economic Geology and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and of the Society of Economic Geology (SEG).

Technical Information

Rock and core samples have been prepared and analyzed at SGS laboratory facilities in Medellin, Colombia and Lima, Peru. Blanks, duplicates, and certified reference standards are inserted into the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance. Crush rejects and pulps are kept and stored in a secured storage facility for future assay verification. No capping has been applied to sample composites. The Company utilizes a rigorous, industry-standard QA/QC program.

Contact Information

Collective Mining Ltd.
Steve Gold, Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations
Tel. (416) 648-4065

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements about the drill programs, including timing of results, and Collective’s future and intentions. Wherever possible, words such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “predict” or “potential” or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management as at the date hereof.

Forward-looking statements involve significant risk, uncertainties, and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, Collective cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and Collective assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

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

Figure 1

Plan View of the Guayabales Project Highlighting the Donut Target

Figure 2

Plan View of the Donut Target Area