Exploration Update on Zager & Daro VMS Projects in Northern Ethiopia

DIDCOT, UK / ACCESSWIRE / October 29, 2019 / Altus Strategies Plc (AIM:ALS)(TSX-V:ALTS), the Africa focused project and royalty generator, provides an update on its 100% owned Zager (285 km²) and Daro (412 km²) exploration projects (the "Projects"), which target Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide ("VMS") gold and base metal deposits in Northern Ethiopia.

Highlights:

• Zager and Daro Projects located in highly prospective and rapidly emerging VMS district

Zager licence

• Two gold prospects defined to date
• Rock chip sample results at the Godfay prospect include 27.1 g/t Au, 7.3 g/t Au and 2.9 g/t Au
• Multiple further hard rock gold workings discovered up to 10m wide and 15m deep
• Licence-wide stream sediment survey continuing

Daro licence

• Strike length of Simret VMS prospect potentially extended by 1.2km
• Rock chip sample results at the Wedi Keshi prospect include 21.6 g/t Au
• Follow up exploration underway

Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus, commented:

"We are encouraged to report on the discovery of a number of new gold prospects from our active exploration programmes in northern Ethiopia, which are focused on the discovery of VMS-type deposits.

Reconnaissance work to date at the Zager project has discovered two new prospects associated with hard rock artisanal gold workings and quartz veins. The workings are among the largest observed to date, being up to 10m wide and with individual shafts reportedly reaching a depth of 15m. A licence-wide stream sediment sampling programme is progressing at Zager, designed to define the highest priority targets. At the Daro project, historical exploration data indicates the presence of a copper anomaly which has the potential to extend the strike length of the Simret prospect by a further 1.2km. Follow up prospecting by the Company has reported both oxide and sulphide copper occurrences discontinuously within this potential extension. Our field teams are currently focused on delineating the potential scale and nature of the Simret prospect.

The Daro and Zager Projects are located in the heart of a rapidly emerging VMS district on the Arabian Nubian shield. A number of groups, including Newmont Goldcorp Corporation, East African Metals Inc. and Sun Peak Metals Corp., are reportedly exploring the district. We look forward to updating shareholders on the results of our current exploration programmes on these exciting projects."

Zager Project: Exploration Update

Prospecting at the Zager licence has resulted in the discovery of eight additional hard rock artisanal gold workings, some of which reportedly reach depths of approximately 10-15m. Three of the newly identified workings are situated on the margin of a large alluvial gold field, where densely spaced excavations cover an area of approximately 500m by 1,000m. Rock chip sampling, primarily of quartz veins and spoil from the hard rock sites, have returned grades including 27.1 g/t Au, 7.3 g/t Au and 2.9 g/t Au. Polymetallic mineralisation has also been observed at a number of localities, with galena, chalcopyrite and bornite identified in hand specimen. These observations have been supported by rock chip sample results up to 1.5 % Pb, 0.2 % Cu and 24 g/t Ag. The Company's field team are currently completing a licence-wide stream sediment survey, after which the hard rock workings will be systematically sampled.

Daro Project: Exploration Update

Historical geochemical data covering a portion of the Daro project area indicate that the 2.8km long Simret prospect has the potential to be extended by a further 1.2km to the south. Interpretation of the historical data, in parallel with Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) satellite imagery and follow-up fieldwork indicate the presence of a potential copper anomaly which coincides with the contact between an ophiolite complex and intermediate volcanics along a thrust fault. Simret occurs within a prospective corridor which has been discontinuously mapped along a strike length of approximately 7.3km. The Company's field team are currently undertaking detailed geological mapping along the corridor in order to optimise a ground geophysical gravity survey planned for the first quarter of 2020.

At the Wedi Keshi prospect, recent rock chip sampling of narrow quartz veins has returned high grade results up to 21.6 g/t Au. Previously reported grades from Wedi Keshi include 14.1 g/t Au, 8.5 g/t Au, 7.3 g/t Au and 5.6 g/t Au. Wedi Keshi is characterised by a NNE trending kaolinised quartz-feldspar porphyry intrusion which is approximately 2km in strike length and up to 300m wide.

The following figures have been prepared and relate to the disclosures in this announcement and are visible in the version of this announcement on the Company's website (www.altus-strategies.com) or in PDF format by following this link: http://altus-strategies.com/site/assets/files/4606/altus_nr_-_zager-daro_29_oct_2019.pdf

• Location of the Zager and Daro licences on the Arabian Nubian Shield is shown in Figure 1.
• Licence holdings in the Zager district is shown in Figure 2.
• The geology of the Zager licence is shown in Figure 3.
• The Simret prospect at Daro with SWIR satellite imagery is shown in Figure 4.
• A selection of project photos is shown in Figure 5.

Projects: Background

The Zager and Daro licences are held by Altau Resources Limited, the Company's 100% owned Ethiopia focused exploration subsidiary, and cover an area of approximately 285km² and 412 km² respectively.

Situated in the Tigray province of northern Ethiopia, the Projects are located 60km east and west from each other, approximately 100km and 175km northwest respectively of the Tigray state capital of Mekele and 570km and 610km north respectively of Ethiopia's capital city of Addis Ababa. Mekele has a regional airport as do the nearby towns of Axum (20 km northeast of Daro) and Shire (30km southeast of Zager). Both projects are accessible year-round by a network of maintained, surfaced and graded roads. A railway is being planned which will connect Shire with the Red Sea port of Tadjoura in Djibouti. The Zager project also benefits from a high voltage hydroelectric power line that crosses the licence area.

Both Projects were selected by the Company's extensive in-house process of regional targeting. This work comprised a review of available datasets which include historical mineral occurrences, geological maps and satellite-borne remote sensing data.

Projects: Geological Setting

Both Projects are situated within the Neo-Proterozoic Nakfa terrane of the Arabian Nubian Shield, a highly prospective mobile belt of metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks which stretches across northern and western Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt and the western Gulf. The Nakfa Terrane hosts a number of significant VMS base metal and gold deposits and mines. These include Bisha, a polymetallic mine operated by Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. 190km northwest of Daro and 136km northwest of Zager, the Asmara project being advanced by Sichuan Road & Bridge Mining Investment Corp Ltd 100km north of Daro and 125km northeast of Zager and the Harvest and Adyabo VMS projects, being advanced by East Africa Metals Inc. (TSX-V:EAM) 35km west of Daro and 10km south and east of Zager.

Bands of mafic to ultramafic rocks are present at both Projects, striking broadly southwest to northeast. These belts are interpreted to be ophiolite complexes comprised of ancient oceanic crust and seafloor sediments, which were deposited in an island arc setting.

The Zager Project contains two northeast trending ophiolite belts and an overlaying tuffaceous volcano-sedimentary sequence, in addition to two syn-tectonic granitoid intrusions. At the Daro Project, historical exploration data compiled by the BRGM, has defined a number of marker lithologies and structures which are considered prospective for VMS deposits. These include the presence of bimodal volcanics and associated sediments, mafic and ultramafic lithologies, as well as the presence of extensive chert horizons.

Zager Project: Sampling Methodology and Analysis

A total of 249 rock-chip samples were collected from outcrop, float or spoil material from artisanal workings from the exploration programmes described in this release. Of the 249 samples:

Gold: 14 of 249 samples assayed above 0.5 g/t Au, ranging from less than 0.01 g/t to 27.1 g/t Au

Silver: 6 of the 249 samples assayed above 1 g/t Ag, ranging from less than 0.3 g/t to 24.8 g/t Ag

Lead: 4 of the 249 samples assayed above 0.1 % Pb, ranging from less than 0.01 % to 1.5 % Pb

Copper: 4 of the 249 samples assayed above 0.1 % Cu, ranging from less than 0.01 % to 0.2 % Cu

Daro Project: Sampling Methodology and Analysis

A total of 76 rock-chip samples were collected from outcrop or float from the exploration programmes described in this release. Of the 76 samples:

Gold: 6 of 76 samples assayed above 0.5 g/t Au, ranging from less than 0.01 g/t to 21.6 g/t Au

All sample preparation and assaying for both Projects were undertaken by ALS Global at its laboratories in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Loughrea (Republic of Ireland) respectively. Given the early stage nature of these programmes, six Quality Assurance and Quality Control ("QA-QC") samples from the Zager Project were also sent for assay, including two duplicates and standards and blanks at an average rate of 1 in every 125 routine samples.

Rock samples were crushed with 70% passing -2mm. The less than 2mm fraction was pulverized with 85% of the sample passing <75 microns. The fine fraction of each sample underwent a four-acid digestion with ICP-AES analysis for a suite of 33 elements. All samples were analysed for their Au content by 50g Fire Assay method. Samples with more than 1 g/t Au were resubmitted for Fire Assay with a gravimetric finish.

Qualified Person

The technical disclosure in this regulatory announcement has been read and approved by Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus. He has not verified the historical data disclosed in this regulatory announcement but has no reason to question its accuracy. A graduate of the University of Southampton in Geology (Hons), Steven Poulton also holds a Master's degree from the Camborne School of Mines (Exeter University) in Mining Geology. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and has over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person under the AIM rules and National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

For further information you are invited to visit the Company's website www.altus-strategies.com or contact:

About Altus Strategies Plc

Altus is a London (AIM: ALS) and Toronto (TSX-V: ALTS) listed project and royalty generator in the mining sector with a focus on Africa. Our team creates value by making mineral discoveries across multiple licences. We enter joint ventures with respected groups and our partners earn interest in these discoveries by advancing them toward production. Project milestone payments we receive are reinvested to extend our portfolio, accelerating our growth. The portfolio model reduces risk as our interests are diversified by commodity and by country. The royalties generated from our portfolio of projects are designed to yield sustainable long-term income. We engage constructively with all our stakeholders, working diligently to minimise our environmental impact and to promote positive economic and social outcomes in the communities where we operate.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include without limitation the completion of planned expenditures, the ability to complete exploration programmes on schedule and the success of exploration programmes. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking information, which speak only as of the date of this news release.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Glossary of Terms

"Au" means gold
"BRGM" means the French governmental ‘Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières'
"km" means kilometre
"m" means metre
"Quartz vein" means a fracture which has been filled by quartz and other minerals which have crystallised from mineralised fluids
"VMS" means volcanogenic massive sulphide

SOURCE: Altus Strategies PLC