Mr. Ari Sussman reports

COLLECTIVE MINING TO COMMENCE DRILLING AT THE TRAP TARGET TO TEST A NEW 850-METER EXTENSION TO SHEETED VEIN SYSTEM CORRIDOR AND A NEW LARGE GOLD-COPPER PORPHYRY ANOMALY

Drilling at Collective Mining Ltd.'s Trap target will begin in May following the granting by the ANM (Colombian National Mining Agency) of a key title and the acquisition of a key outstanding tenement to fully consolidate the target area. The Trap target is located approximately 3.5 kilometres to the northeast of the flagship Apollo system within the company's Guayabales project in Caldas, Colombia.

• The Colombian ANM has granted the company a key exploration title covering the northwestern trending extension of the sheeted vein system and a newly generated large porphyry target.
• The large Trap target area has been further consolidated with the acquisition on a 100-per-cent basis of a key outstanding tenement.
• Drilling with two diamond rigs anticipated to commence in May.

Ari Sussman, executive chairman, commented: "We are excited to finally resume exploration drilling at Trap after a pause while we awaited the granting of the title by the ANM covering the northern extension of the system. The Trap target possesses all the characteristics of a classic porphyry system with a large magnetic high coinciding with outcropping samples yielding porphyry style veining, potassic alteration and robust gold-copper grades. The porphyry target is flanked by porphyry-related carbonate base metal sheeted veinlet systems, located within a two-plus-kilometre corridor. We have been patiently waiting for this day to arrive and now look forward to seeing the results from this program in the coming months."

Details

The focus of the exploration drilling campaign at Trap will be to test northwest continuity of the high-grade sheeted vein system, where prior drilling by the company has outlined a continuous 1,400-metre vein corridor which remains open in all directions. Additionally, the campaign will test the broader Trap target area, where recent reinterpretation of nearby drill holes, new surface geochemical data, outcrop samples and magnetic susceptibility point to strong potential for a gold-copper rich porphyry deposit to be discovered.

Tenement acquisition

Total consideration for the tenement acquired by the company from an arm's-length third party entity is $3.5-million (U.S.) to be satisfied in three equal instalments as follows:

• One-third due within five days of the execution of the agreement (paid);
• One-third due on the first anniversary of the agreement execution date;
• One-third due on the second anniversary of the agreement execution date.

Trap target description

Trap is a priority exploration target and part of the growth strategy for the Guayabales project. More specifically, Trap is a large-scale gold-copper porphyry target structurally positioned within a parallel, northwest-trending auriferous corridor similar to the highly prospective Apollo-Marmato corridor situated just 3.5 kilometres to the south.

The target is centered on secondary biotite-altered and pyrite stockwork-veined quartz-diorite bordered by country rock, schist and covering an area of over 800 metres by 400 metres. At numerous locations, the alteration intensifies to a secondary biotite-magnetite-albite-chlorite assemblage with bornite-chalcopyrite plus/minus molybdenum-visible gold as dissemination clots, hosted in narrow quartz-veinlets or infilling miarolitic cavities. The alteration is interpreted to be a pyrite halo to a proximal and productive porphyry system, indicated from higher-temperature alteration phases, miarolitic cavities and mineralization developed within the exposed wall-rock quartz-diorite and schist. The entire Trap target coincides with a robust magnetic anomaly, with internal magnetic highs and halos of elevated soil and rock-chip gold geochemistry coincident with the zones of intense surface alteration, interpreted to be proximal to apophasis of the causative and mineralized porphyry intrusion.

Peripheral to the magnetic anomaly are four polymetallic vein camps, interpreted to be the distal expression to the porphyry system. Previous drilling has defined a broad northwest-trending mineralized veins zone for over two kilometres of strike, and up to 150 metres wide and drilled to a maximum depth of 915 metres.

Drilling will target the zones of intense porphyry alteration, with coinciding magnetic features and elevated geochemistry within the northwest-trending structural corridor as well as the continuity of the polymetallic veins to the northwest.

To date, Collective has completed 171,000 metres of diamond drilling across the Guayabales and San Antonio projects, including 18,000 metres at the Trap target.

About Collective Mining Ltd.

Founded by the team that developed and sold Continental Gold Inc. to Zijin Mining for approximately $2-billion in enterprise value, Collective is a gold, silver, copper and tungsten exploration company with projects in Caldas, Colombia. The company's two projects are located directly within an established mining camp with 10 fully permitted and operating mines.

The company's flagship project, Guayabales, is anchored by the Apollo system, which hosts the large-scale, bulk-tonnage and high-grade gold-silver-copper-tungsten Apollo system. The company's objectives at the Guayabales project are to expand the newly discovered high-grade Ramp zone along strike and to depth, drill test the new hangingwall vein zone and drill a series of greenfield generated targets on the property.

Additionally, the company is drilling its optioned San Antonio project (can earn up to 100-per-cent interest) as it hunts for new discoveries and looks to aggressively extend to the south the recently discovered high-grade silver system made at the Pound target. The San Antonio project is located between two to five kilometres east-northeast of the Guayabales project and could potentially share infrastructure given their proximity to each other.

Management, insiders, a strategic investor, and close family and friends own 45.3 per cent of the outstanding shares of the company and as a result, are fully aligned with shareholders. The company is listed on both the NYSE American and Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol CNL.

Qualified person (QP) and National Instrument 43-101 disclosure

David J. Reading, independent consultant, is the designated qualified person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and verified that the technical information contained herein is accurate and approves of the written disclosure of same. Mr. Reading has an MSc in economic geology and is a fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and of the Society of Economic Geology (SEG).

Technical information

Samples were cut by company personnel at Collective Mining's core facility in Caldas, Colombia. Diamond drill core was sawed and then sampled in maximum two-metre intervals, stopping at geological boundaries. Drill hole core diameter is a mix of PQ, HQ and NQ depending on the depth of the drill hole.

Core samples have been prepared and analyzed at ALS laboratory facilities in Medellin, Colombia, and Lima, Peru, for copper, gold and silver assays, and multielement ICP. ALS is an accredited laboratory which is independent of the company. Gold assays are obtained by fire assay fusion with AAS finish on a 50 g sample (Au-AA24). Any samples returning greater than 10 g/t were then reanalyzed by fire assay with gravimetric finish on a 50 g sample (Au-GRA22). Copper and silver were assayed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) following a four-acid digestion. Samples were also analyzed for a suite of 48 elements with ME-MS61 plus mercury and a sequential copper leach analysis was completed on each sample with copper greater than 10,000 parts per million. Blanks, duplicates and certified reference standards are inserted into the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance. Crush rejects and pulps are kept and stored in a secured storage facility for future assay verification. No capping has been applied to sample composites. The company utilizes a rigorous, industry standard QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) program.

We seek Safe Harbor.