Mr. John Power reports

ATHENA GOLD DRILLS 1.02 G/T GOLD OVER 51.8 METERS AND EXTENDS ITS SHALLOW OXIDE GOLD DISCOVERY AT ITS EXCELSIOR SPRINGS PROJECT IN NEVADA

Athena Gold Corp. has released results from its phase 3 drilling program at its 100-per-cent-owned, 4,000-acre Excelsior Springs gold project, located approximately 45 miles southwest of Goldfield in Esmeralda county, Nevada.

A total of nine RC drill holes were completed in the phase 3 program for a total of 1,140 metres in the Western Slope zone (WSZ); gold mineralization was extended both east and west. The purpose of the company's phase 3 drilling program was to expand the mineralization footprint and better understand the mineralization trend at the WSZ, which is the one of the newest grassroots discoveries in the prestigious Walker Lane trend in Nevada.

John Power, president and chief executive officer of Athena, commented: "We are pleased with the continued progress and evolution of our new Western Slope zone. We have drilled 18 RC holes for a total of 2,052 metres in the WSZ over 2022 and 2023 with excellent results. Our immediate focus is to further expand the WSZ and identify the source of its mineralizing fluids. This, combined with the follow-up exploration opportunity at GE-14, which has an IRG geochemical signature, provide the company with multiple high-leverage drill targets going forward."

Phase 3 highlights and results

DH 23-03 intersected 1.02 grams per tonne Au and 8.2 g/t Ag over 51.8 metres, starting at 29 metres. This lengthy intercept extended the Western Slope zone about 23 m eastward at similar depths to the two intercepts reported from RC hole 22-02. The mineralization was well distributed throughout the interval.

DH 23-01 intersected 2.18 g/t Au and 1.9 g/t Ag over 6.1 metres, starting at 74.7 metres. This intercept included 1.52 m (five feet) of 6.6 g/t Au, extending the WSZ approximately 15 m east of the deepest interval reported in RC drill hole 22-01.

The company engaged Caracle Creek International Consulting Inc. and its strategic partner Atticus Geoscience Consulting to analyze and model the drill hole data from the Western Slope zone in a comprehensive 3-D geological model and propose follow-up drill targets in the WSZ. Initial modelling has been completed, giving the company a better understanding of the orientation of mineralization in the WSZ. A very concise drilling program has been designed as part of the next phase of exploration at Excelsior Springs.

Future exploration plans and discussion

Future exploration will focus on drilling the holes proposed by Caracle Creek/Atticus to continue to delineate and expand the WSZ. In addition, future exploration will aim to uncover new zones of mineralization starting with the area around historical drill hole GE-14. The area around GE-14 has a much different geochemical signature than the WSZ.

Drill hole GE-14 is in an area about 325 m east of WSZ and returned 24.4 metres of 1.09 g/t Au starting at only 7.6 metres depth; this hole also had anomalous arsenic, antimony, bismuth, molybdenum, mercury and tellurium. GE-14 is proximal to a mapped fault named the South Ridge thrust fault (SRTF) which extends all the way to an induced polarization anomaly in the southwest area of the property. The SRTF appears to be similar to a traditional intrusion-related gold (IRG) system with elevated arsenic, bismuth and other key pathfinder elements associated with gold mineralization.

This IRG target was further confirmed by more recent outcrop sampling by Athena's technical team at Contact Gulch, a surface exposure of the SRTF which returned almost one g/t Au and significantly elevated arsenic, bismuth, copper and molybdenum concentrations. Elevated concentrations of these minerals are interpreted to be hydrothermally derived from a magmatic source. The company has a high level of confidence in the gold exploration opportunity in the area around GE-14.

Athena also recently collected surface samples from the historic high-grade gold occurrence commonly referred to as the Lida Bell mine which is located on new claims staked by Athena in the fall of 2022 to expand its land package to approximately 4,000 acres at Excelsior Springs.

Quality assurance and quality control

Procedures were implemented to assure quality assurance/quality control (QAQC). All drilling was performed using reverse circulation methods with samples collected at five-foot intervals. Representative sample splits were securely stored for shipment, with chain-of-custody documentation through delivery to American Assay Laboratories, an independent ISO-certified laboratory in Reno, Nev. Mineralized commercial reference standards and coarse blank standards were inserted in every 20th sample in sequence to assure acceptable levels of confidence of the drill hole assays. When laboratory reports of the assays are received, QA/QC protocols are immediately augmented to ensure dependability of the drill hole assays.

As the Excelsior Springs project advances, additional QA/QC measures will be implemented, including selected duplicate check assaying on pulps and coarse rejects at a second accredited assay laboratory. All results will be analyzed for consistency.

Qualified person

John Hiner, SME registered member and Washington State licensed geologist, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis of this press release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Hiner is not independent of the company.

About Athena Gold Corp.

Athena's main objectives are to conduct additional exploration drilling and studies on the project and to acquire precious and base metal properties of merit.

We seek Safe Harbor.