Central Iron Ore Ltd.: Exploration at South Darlot Gold Project

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Central Iron Ore Ltd. (CIO – TSX.V) (“CIO” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that an opportunity arose to drill as a drilling contractor had spare capacity.

At the Endeavour prospect 5 holes for 192 metres were drilled to test the extension of the mineralisation to the west. Significant mineralisation includes:

21ENRC-03: 2m (1.6m true width) at 9.7 g/t Au from 52 meters down hole.

On M37/632 12 holes for 726 metres were drilled to test an anomalous structure identified from a drone magnetic survey. Sample assay results from this drilling has yielded one encouraging result which was in hole 21SDRC12 and intersected 4 metres at 0.45 g/t Au from 24 to 28 metres down hole.

Drone Magnetic Survey
A drone magnetic survey was flown over 4 blocks over the South Darlot licenses on 20m flight lines and a 20m flying height for all blocks with a section over the Endeavour mineralisation flown with a 10m line spacing. The information collected from this survey was used in collaboration with an earlier 1999 survey and a drill target on M37/632 was generated. Analysis and interpretation of the data is ongoing and additional drill targets focussing on structural breaks in the geology will be made.

Trial DGPR Survey
A trial Deep Ground Penetrating Radar (DGPR) survey was conducted by Ultramag Geophysics over the Endeavour and Mermaid prospects with a series of seven lines surveyed on an approximate twenty-meter line spacing. Analysis and interpretation of the data is in progress.

Red 5 Joint Venture
The original Joint Venture was formed in 2011 with a predecessor of Red 5 Limited, who on August 2017 acquired from Gold Fields Limited the fully owned subsidiary Darlot Mining Pty Limited which held the Joint Venture interest. CIO’s fully owned subsidiary South Darlot Pty Ltd is registered at the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety with a 51% interest.

CIO maintains it is entitled to an interest of at least 70%. This is disputed by Red 5 Limited.

Red 5 Limited and CIO are in advanced negotiations to resolve this matter, which resolution will only be binding upon the execution of a definitive binding agreement. We anticipate that the matter will be resolved in the near term.

British King
Under the terms of Tenement Acquisition Agreement dated 30 October 2014 regarding the sale of British King by CIO to BK Gold Mines Pty Limited, the British King Mine has now reverted to 100% beneficial ownership by CIO. CIO is registered on title for 49% and has received signed transfer forms from BK Gold Mines Pty Limited to Central Iron Ore Limited for the transfer of a further 51% interest as agreed.

The registration of unencumbered title of that 51% interest is being delayed by Silverstream SE22, who provided funding to BK Gold Mines Pty Limited to fund their acquisition under the Tenement Acquisition Agreement. Silverstream SE22 has refused to remove the caveats which prevents registration of the transfers. CIO maintains that such refusal has no legal foundation and is evaluating its options which includes commencing legal proceedings.

SOUTH DARLOT GOLD PROJECT (Western Australia)

The Company’s South Darlot Gold Project area is located approximately 320km northwest of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and includes:

• The British King Mine which is National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI43-101”) compliant. The British King Mine is 5km southwest of Red 5 Limited’s Darlot Mine. The British King Mine is currently in care and maintenance.
• A number of tenements which are subject to a joint venture with subsidiaries of Red 5 Limited (“Red 5”), details of which are set out below.

Figure 1a is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/95df9007-9b42-4cf4-b21b-19a0799b107f

Figure 1b is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/522f4300-de47-4678-b6f1-73c4387e2544

RED 5 JV Project (Formerly Barrick Joint Venture Project)

The tenements set out in the table below (“Red 5 JV Tenements”) are the subject of a joint venture between the Company and subsidiaries of Red 5 Limited (“Red 5 JV”) and are situated southwest of Red 5’s Darlot gold mine and are contiguous with CIO’s current holdings in the area. The Red 5 JV Tenements are detailed below.

Table 1: List of South Darlot tenements

Endeavour Prospect – RC Drilling

The Endeavour mineralisation is characterised by a planar, laminated quartz vein with minor sulphides including pyrite, galena and traces of chalcopyrite. Enveloping this is stringer mineralisation over 1 – 3 metres with grades between 0.5 – 2.0 g/t Au. This laminated vein and halo mineralisation is hosted in a highly weathered felsic volcanic. Preliminary petrology suggests the gold is secondary in nature and present as small blebs of electrum or particulate grains associated with pyrite.

A total of five holes were drilled at the Endeavour prospect in July 2021. Four of the holes targeted shallow positions in an attempt to determine the up dip presence of the Endeavour mineralisation. The fifth hole was drilled to extend the mineralisation to the west of the Endeavour quartz lode.

The four shallow holes intersected a narrow 1 to 2 m wide quartz vein but failed to record any significant mineralsiation and it must now be concluded there is a depletion zone in the highly weathered upper horizon of this mineralised system.

Figure 2 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/545aca6a-7af4-4d51-8844-9b2db9f3c031

The fifth hole 21ENRC-03 targeted the quartz lode west of the known position of the lode and intersected 2 m @ 9.7 g/t Au from 50 metres down hole (true width of 1.6 metres). Figure 2 to 4 shows a plan, cross section and long section of the Endeavour lode and the spatial relationship of the intercept relative to historical drilling.

Figure 3 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f79b0153-f1e9-458c-bb67-bfe60506e5c4

Figure 4 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/aa6baa2c-f9d4-4658-bc03-ae15fb9d59c6

Figure 5 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/98a90200-8502-49b6-9c30-1e67dd05e7d0

Table 2: List of holes drilled in July 2021 at the South Darlot Project

M37/632 – RC Drilling

A structural target generated from the recent drone magnetics survey was drilled in July 2021. A total of 12 reverse circulation drill holes were drilled on three lines spaced 80 metres apart. A total of twelve holes were drilled for 726 metres. Sample assay results from this drilling has only yielded one modestly interesting result which was in hole 21SDRC12 and intersected 4 metres at 0.45 g/t Au from 24 to 28 metres down hole (Table 2). This was a 4 metre composited sample, and the individual one metre samples will be submitted for fire assay analysis.

Figure 6 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2324788c-f051-4199-984f-07482ad19afe

Drone Magnetic Survey

A low level, high-resolution rotary wing, drone-based magnetic survey of the South Darlot licenses on 20m flight lines and a 10m flying height covering an area of 6.6 km2 was flown over four areas in May 2021 by Ultramag Geophysics. The objective of the survey was to ascertain if geological breaks in stratigraphy representing structural discontinuities could be identified with the close spaced, high resolution data. Preliminary work has identified one such structure which was drill tested in July 2021. Further analysis of this data set will be undertaken to determine its usefulness for drill targeting.

Figure 7 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3b9581a6-36b7-4e42-892d-54a4affa69a4

Trial Radar Survey

A trial Deep Ground Penetrating Radar (DGPR) survey was conducted by Ultramag Geophysics over the Endeavour and Mermaid prospects with a series of seven lines surveyed on an approximate twenty-meter line spacing. The specifications of the survey are as follows: 20 kW, 3 µs pulse width, 15,000 Hz with a 1 second sample which is equivalent to 1 meter shot spacing.

Results from the survey are still being analysed; however, the initial findings are proving difficult to correlate to the known spatial position of the Endeavour lode. A fault like feature can be observed to the south of the Endeavour lode (Figure 8) however, this is lost in the subsequent radar sections.

Figure 8 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5e9ee7ff-36c1-4996-a067-4e44e482d210

QUALIFIED PERSON

Mr Andrew Bewsher who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and has compiled the information within this report relating to mineralisation and drill results. Mr Bewsher has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity currently being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in NI 43-101.

On behalf of the Board of Directors
CENTRAL IRON ORE LTD.

“Brett Hodgins”
____________________________
Brett Hodgins, President/CEO

For further information, please contact:
www.centralironorelimited.com

Investor and Media Inquiries:
Direct: +61 2 9397 7555

Email:info@centralironore.com

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Although the Company believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is 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 information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information 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 market for iron ore or other minerals that may be produced generally, recent market volatility; variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies and other risks associated with the exploration and development of mineral properties. The reader is referred to the Company's disclosure documents for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through the Company’s page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.