Ms. Tara Christie reports

BANYAN DRILLS 18 METRES OF 1.11 G/T AU FROM SURFACE AT NEW AUREX HILL TARGET, AURMAC PROPERTY, YUKON

Banyan Gold Corp. has released results of three (AX-20-55 to AX-20-57) additional diamond drill holes located in a previously untested area of the Aurex Hill zone, AurMac property, Yukon.

Highlights from this new mineralized zone results include:

• 1.11 grams per tonne gold over 17.9 metres from surface in AX-20-57;
• 0.91 g/t Au over 20.5 metres from surface in AX-20-54.

Diamond drilling at the Aurex Hill zone in 2020 comprised seven exploration holes designed to test a small portion of the highly prospective coincident gold-arsenic-in-soil anomalies previously defined by Banyan to be covering the majority of Aurex Hill. Drilling occurred in an untested area, over 300 m northwest of historic Aurex Hill diamond drill holes, and hosts the same lithological package as at the Powerline zone, over 1.25 kilometres to the west.

"These results, along with the results released in our Jan. 11, 2021, news release demonstrate that the Au-As-in-soil anomalies at Aurex Hill are the weathering expression of broad-based, near-surface gold mineralization," stated Tara Christie, president and chief executive officer. "In particular, both AX-20-54 and AX-20-57 have identified 18 to 20 metres of about one g/t Au from surface in a well-developed oxide zone. Banyan has again successfully applied the AurMac mineralization model to explore a highly prospective zone that has never before been tested. We believe these early holes may link the Powerline zone to the Aurex Hill zone."

The first holes in this area, including those from the Jan. 11, 2021, news release, in this newly recognized zone have intersected a well-developed and pervasive oxidized footprint to depths of over 40 metres and coincident with extensive discordant sheeted auriferous quartz-arsenopyrite veining.

     2020 HIGHLIGHTED DIAMOND DRILL ANALYTICAL RESULTS

Hole ID           From           To         Interval*              Au
                   (m)          (m)               (m)           (g/t)

AX-20-55             2         43.5              41.5            0.25
including         33.5         35.0               1.5            1.00
AX-20-56           2.7        115.0             112.3            0.24
including          8.0          9.5               1.5            1.02
including         47.1         47.4               0.3           22.40
and              154.5        224.0              69.5            0.31
including        181.9        182.2               0.3            6.16
including        184.8        185.2               0.4            2.60
including        200.0        200.6               0.6            2.45
including        209.0        210.1               1.1            1.03
AX-20-57           3.1         21.0              17.9            1.11
including          7.5          8.0               0.5            3.71
including         12.2         14.8               2.6            2.73
including         15.5         16.5               1.0            5.20
including         17.5         17.6               0.1            7.56
including         19.5         21.0               1.5            1.03
and               39.2         46.3               7.1            0.56
including         39.2         40.0               0.8            1.72
including         46.0         46.3               0.3            5.30
and               74.5         86.5              12.0            0.31
and               89.0         96.5               7.5            0.23
and              101.5        108.4               6.9            0.33
including        107.5        108.4               0.9            1.30
and              115.7        116.6               0.9            2.04

* Drill intercept widths reported as true widths are unknown. 
Drill hole AX-20-48 was abandoned due to technical drilling issues.

There are still 18 holes from the 2020 exploration season with assays pending.

Analytical method

All drill core splits collected from the 2020 AurMac program were analyzed at Bureau Veritas Minerals of Vancouver, B.C., utilizing the aqua regia digestion ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) 36-element AQ200 analytical package with FA450 50-gram fire assay with AAS (atomic absorption spectroscopy) finish for gold on all samples. All core samples were split on site at Banyan's core processing facilities. Once split, half samples were placed back in the core boxes with the other half of split samples sealed in poly bags with one part of a three-part sample tag inserted within. Samples were delivered by Banyan personnel or a dedicated expediter to the Bureau Veritas, Whitehorse, preparatory laboratory where samples are prepared and then shipped to Bureau Veritas's analytical laboratory in Vancouver, B.C., for pulverization and final chemical analysis. A robust system of standards, one-quarter core duplicates and blanks was implemented in the 2020 exploration drilling program and was monitored as chemical assay data became available.

Upcoming catalysts:

• Feb. 9, 2021 -- webinar with Robert Sinn;
• Q1 2021 -- drill results from 2020 program;
• Q1 2021 -- resume drilling at AurMac property.

Qualified person

Paul D. Gray, PGeo, vice-president of exploration for the company, is a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the content of this news release.

COVID-19 update

Banyan has taken pro-active measures to protect the health and safety of its employees and communities from COVID-19 and exploration activities in 2021 will have additional safety measures in place, following and exceeding all the recommendations made by the Yukon's chief medical officer.

About Banyan Gold Corp.

Banyan's primary asset, AurMac, is adjacent to Victoria Gold Corp.'s new Eagle gold mine in Canada's Yukon, which announced commercial production on July 1, 2020. The AurMac initial resource of 903,945 ounces Au was announced in May, 2020. Banyan's major strategic shareholders include Osisko Gold Royalties, Sprott Funds, Alexco Resource Corp. and Victoria Gold. Banyan is focused on gold exploration projects that have the geological potential, size of land package and proximity to infrastructure that are advantageous for a mineral project to have potential to become a mine.

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