MacDonald Mines 2018 Drilling Program Identifies Gold-Bearing Structure Under the Oxide Sands

TORONTO, July 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. (TSX-V:BMK) ("MacDonald Mines", the "Company", or “BMK”) announces the results of its Winter 2018 drilling program at its Wawa-Holdsworth Project. Thirteen short exploration holes, totalling 1,093 metres, were drilled to test the bedrock that underlies the Oxide Sands that is believed to be their source.

Quentin Yarie, President and Chief Executive Officer of MacDonald Mines stated, "Our drilling program shows that the deformed iron formation, located below the Oxide Sands, is mineralized with precious metals. Although the grades were below the Company’s expectations, these results indicate a large-scale gold-bearing structure crosses the Wawa-Holdsworth Project. A surface mapping and mechanized stripping program will enable us to better understand the distribution of gold in the mineralized structures of the property, and define if potential zones of high-grade mineralization exist in that structural corridor.”

Table 1. Highlights of the 2017-2018 drilling results in the Wawa Gold Corridor

2018 Drilling Program - Wawa-Holdsworth Project
The Winter 2018 drilling program was targeting the deformed iron formation located below the Oxide Sands following encouraging precious metal results in the bedrock tagged during the sonic drilling program. Thirteen exploration holes were drilled to test the iron formation over a strike length of 1.3 km. All the holes drilled in the iron formation detected anomalous gold values and show that the structure has potential for precious metal mineralization over its 1.3 km strike length. Mechanized stripping and surface mapping are currently underway on the property to locate potential centers of higher-grade gold mineralization in the multiple gold-bearing structures present on the Wawa-Holdsworth Project.

Overview of the Wawa-Holdsworth Project
The Wawa-Holdsworth Project, located 20 km northeast of Wawa, Ontario, has all the attributes to host a gold system with several gold showings occurring in a 500m-wide deformation corridor.  There are three gold targets on the property:

1. Gold-bearing Oxide Sands developed from the weathering of the auriferous pyrite zones;
2. Gold-bearing pyrite zones in an Algoma-type iron formation; and
3. Greenstone-hosted quartz-carbonate vein deposits.

To date, the Company’s exploration program has uncovered the following:

• The Oxide Sands extend at least 1.5 km and remain open to west;
• High-grade precious metals zones discovered within the Oxide Sands with assays up to 7.46 g/t gold equivalent (“AuEq”) over 3.23 m (Dec. 5, 2017 News release);
• A new oxide sand zone was discovered 250 metres west of the currently defined trend; and
• Grades of 5.71 g/t AuEq over 3.05 m including 9.31 g/t AuEq over 1.83 m was sampled in the newly discovered zone (Jan 31, 2018 News release).

MacDonald Mines has focused its near-term exploration program on the Oxide Sands. The soft and relatively unconsolidated material can be extracted like an aggregate. As announced on June 6, 2018, the Company is working with Northern Sun Mining Corp., and its plant in Timmins, Ontario, to develop a process that will maximize precious metals recoveries from the Oxide Sands in preparation for their potential extraction.

On-site Quality Assurance/Quality Control (“QA/QC”) Measures
Drill core samples were transported in security-sealed bags for analyses to Activation Laboratories Ltd. in Ancaster, Ontario. Individual samples are labeled, placed in plastic sample bags and sealed. Groups of samples are then placed into durable rice bags and then shipped. The remaining coarse reject portions of the samples remain in storage if further work or verification is needed.

MacDonald Mines has implemented a quality-control program to comply with best practices in the sampling and analysis of both the Oxide Sands and drill core. As part of its QA/QC program, MacDonald Mines inserts external gold, silver, platinum and palladium standards (low to high grade) and blanks every 20 samples in addition to random standards, blanks, and duplicates.

Qualified Person
Quentin Yarie, P Geo. is the qualified person responsible for preparing, supervising and approving the scientific and technical content of this news release.

About MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd.
MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. is a mineral exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario focused on gold exploration in Canada.  The Company has built a portfolio of safe-jurisdiction, infrastructure-rich projects that demonstrate the greatest market potential for return. The Company is aggressively advancing its highly prospective Wawa-Holdsworth Gold Project.

The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "BMK".

To learn more about MacDonald Mines, please visit www.macdonaldmines.com 
For more information, please contact:
Quentin Yarie, President & CEO, (416) 364-4986, qyarie@macdonaldmines.com
Or Mia Boiridy, Investor Relations, (416) 364-4986, mboiridy@macdonaldmines.com

Cautionary Statement:

Neither 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.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. The foregoing information may contain forward-looking statements relating to the future performance of the Company. Forward-looking statements, specifically those concerning future performance, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the Company’s plans and expectations. These plans, expectations, risks and uncertainties are detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with the TSX Venture Exchange and securities regulators. MacDonald Mines does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.