TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb. 28, 2017) - Red Pine Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RPX) ("Red Pine" or the "Company") has received partial results for holes SD-16-45 to SD-17-49 from its on-going drilling program at the Wawa Gold Project.

Highlights from the drilling results include:

• Discovery of a high-grade zone in SD-16-45 containing 14.66 g/t gold over 15.21 metres (calculated true thickness; un-cut) in the Jubilee Shear Zone;
• Intersection of 7.65 g/t gold over 2.6 metres in SD-16-45 and of 2.94 g/t gold over 3.88 metres in SD-17-46 in the Surluga Road Shear Zone (Table 1 and Figure 1); and
• Discovery of quartz veins with visible gold¹ in four drill holes completed in the vicinity of the Darwin-Grace Mine (Figure 2).

Quentin Yarie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Pine states, "It is exciting that our expectations of discovering a high-grade zone in the northern extension of the Surluga Deposit were met with the results of SD-16-45. Extending and defining this shallow high-grade zone, beginning 98 metres below surface will have positive impacts on the Surluga Deposit inferred resource ² .

Exploration work in the Darwin-Grace mine area is uncovering exceptional near surface targets in the vicinity of the old mine with visible gold ¹ observed in four holes and the discovery of two new shear zones with quartz veins containing visible gold. The discoveries made in the area indicate that the structure hosting the mine is larger and more fertile than initially anticipated."

Drilling Results
Holes SD-16-44, SD-16-45 and SD-16-46 were drilled to test the depth extension of mineralization encountered at surface in the Surluga Road Shear Zone (see November 11, 2016 News Release), in an area extending north of the Surluga Deposit previously untested by drilling. The high-grade intersection in SD-16-45 occurs down-dip from the quartz vein networks intercepted in SD-16-44 that ran 1.61 g/t gold over 26.25 metres (Figure 1). Information obtained from SD-16-45 will assist in targeting higher grade intersections north of the current resource.

Furthermore, Hole SD-16-45 intersected a fold closure zone within the Jubilee Shear Zone. Fold closures represent zones of dilation which act to channel ore forming fluids. As a result, they are often associated with zones of maximum grade/thickness in many gold deposits around the world. Another fold closure zone was intersected previously by Red Pine in Hole SD-14-04 that contained 8.03 g/t gold over 23.03 metres (calculated true width).

Drilling further south suggests that the Darwin-Grace mine may be part of a larger deformation zone than previously anticipated. This under-explored area of brittle-ductile deformation is associated with quartz veins containing visible gold¹ which extend over 10-20 meters downhole. Red Pine's recent logging/mapping initiatives reveal a series of stacked mineralized deformation zones up to 15 meters-long hosted within relatively less deformed zones. These zones may not have been identified by previous operators as the telltale L-tectonite fabric they are associated with are challenging to recognize in drill core and at surface.

Table 1. Highlights of drilling results

Figure 1. Fall/Winter 2016/17 Drill Program - Location of drill holes: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/7123p1.jpg

Figure 2. Location of drill holes near the Darwin-Grace Mine in relationship to the Surluga Deposit: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/7123p2.jpg

On-going Drilling Program
The on-going diamond drill program is focused on expanding the Surluga Deposit, defining the gold structures of the Wawa Gold Corridor and quantifying the structures associated with the historic mines of the property.

On-site Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") Measures
Drill core samples were transported in security-sealed bags for analyses at Activation Laboratories Ltd. in Timmins, Ontario and to SGS in Cochrane, 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.

Red Pine has implemented a quality-control program to comply with best practices in the sampling and analysis of drill core. As part of its QA/QC program, Red Pine inserts external gold 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 Red Pine Exploration Inc.
Red Pine Exploration Inc. is a gold and base-metals exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "RPX".

Red Pine has a 60% interest in the Wawa Gold Project with Citabar LLP holding the remaining 40% interest. Red Pine is the Operating Manager of the Project and is focused on expanding the existing gold resource on the property.

For more information about the Company visit www.redpineexp.com.

¹ Gold visible with the naked eye - "visible gold"

² NI 43-101 inferred resource of 1,088,000 ounces of gold at a 1.71 grams per tonne (g/t) using a 0.40 g/t gold cut-off grade for pit-constrained and 2.50 g/t gold cut-off grade for underground-constrained resources, contained in 19.82 million tonnes open along strike and at depth. The Cut-off grades are based on a gold price of US$1,250 per once and a gold recovery of 95 percent (Mineral Resource Statement*, Surluga-Jubilee Gold Deposit, Wawa Gold Project, Ontario, SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc (effective May 26, 2015)). The report is available on www.SEDAR.com under Red Pine's profile.

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

This News Release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.