Mr. Larry Phillips reports

COMPASS TRENCH SAMPLING ALONG THE TARABALA PROSPECT IDENTIFIES SEVERAL WIDE HIGH-GRADE MINERALIZED ZONES

Compass Gold Corp. has provided an update on the recent trenching sampling program at the Tarabala prospect, located on the company's Sikasso property in southern Mali.

Highlights:

• Assay results have been received from five trenches, each five metres deep and totalling 211 metres in length, at Tarabala and Massala;
• Best interval from Massala: 20 m at 4.13 grams per tonne, including four m at 19.19 g/t Au (five m depth);
  • Widest intercept: 24 m at 1.24 g/t Au (one m depth);
  • Highest-grade interval: one m at 71.60 g/t Au (five m depth);
• Best interval from Tarabala: 12 m at 0.86 g/t Au, including two m at 3.81 g/t Au (five m depth).

The objective of the trenching program was to test several sections of the 3.5-kilometre Tarabala trend to determine which sections contain the strongest gold mineralization, including the best widths and grades, to support the commencement of a small mining operation. The trenching looked to find gold grades in the range of 0.8 g/t Au, which are believed to be sufficient to support a small near-surface mining operation. While the results along the Tarabala section of the trend achieved these objectives, the trenching at Massala along the northern end of the trend returned widths and grades that far exceeded these objectives. Additional trenching is being planned after the rainy season ends in October on two of the most favourable zones at Massala.

Compass chief executive officer Larry Phillips said: "The results from the recent trenching at Massala are extremely encouraging. The higher-grade intersections indicate that the first small mining operation could be located at this northern end of the Tarabala trend. With some additional trenching on either side of the Massala trench (MATR001), we should be able to quantify the tonnage of mineralization before proceeding with the metallurgical studies to determine recoveries and optimal processing methods."

Dr. Madani Diallo, director and country manager, added: "These findings affirm our belief that several small-scale near-surface gold mines could be developed at Tarabala and Massala. It is important to note that the mineralization present in the trenches corresponds with mineralization identified by drilling at depths of over 100 metres. This suggests that, after near-surface mining down to depths of 20 to 30 metres, there remains the potential to conduct larger-scale open-pit mining down to 100 metres or more."

Next steps

The company is developing a plan and budget to excavate more trenches closer to trench MATR001, which, of the two trenches at Massala, returned the best grade. Once a budget has been completed, management will determine what financing will be required in addition to existing cash, in order to complete the program. Depending on financing, this work would be initiated in November when the rains abate. The assay results from that program, combined with the planned metallurgical study, would be used to perform a resource estimate on the near-surface mineralization and provide relevant and more detailed information concerning the potential for a near-surface small mining operation at Tarabala.

Recent Tarabala and Massala trench sampling results

Three trenches (TATR001 to 003) were excavated at the Tarabala prospect to test the surface expression of a mineralized structure encountered during previous drilling (see Compass press release April 18, 2023). That drilling intersected gold mineralization over a distance of 1,800 m, with widths up to 25 m, and slightly narrower zones with higher grades, such as 16 m at 1.51 g/t Au (SAAC02) and 19 m at 1.68 g/t Au (SARC022).

Trench TATR001 was excavated on a plateau 70 m south of the most extensive artisinal gold workings on property. The plateau is the result of a hard iron-cemented crust (termed cuirass or hard cap) that makes artisanal mining very difficult. Trenches TATR002 and TATR003 were located to the south of the eroded plateau and excavated in much softer laterite.

Mapping of the walls of TATR001 indicated the presence of numerous, highly broken-up narrow (one to five centimetres) oxidized quartz veins. Sampling at depths of one and four m produced several discrete one m intervals, containing a maximum of 0.54 g/t Au. Bedrock reverse circulation drilling beneath the trench defined a mineralized zone that contained 25 m at 0.58 g/t Au (from 67 m, SARC003), which included three m at 1.14 g/t Au, from 75 m.

Trenches TATR002 and TATR003 are located 350 m and 400 m, respectively, to the south of TARR001. Due to the abundance of artisanal workings in the area, TATR003 was offset 50 m to the south. The trenches were selected to test the surface expression of a mineralized zone identified by drilling, including five m at 1.23 g/t Au (SAAC082). The results from TATR002 indicate that mineralization was encountered at each depth tested, and correlated between the depths. Discrete mineralized zones varied from three m at 1.77 g/t Au (five m depth) to 12 m at 0.86 g/t Au (two m depth). TATR003 tested mineralization in the hangingwall (to the east) and located three zones two to three m wide, with the best grade being two m at 1.54 g/t Au (five m depth).

Trench MATR001 at Massala was selected to test the surface expression of a mineralized zone identified by drilling, including 24 m at 2.35 g/t Au (SAAC123). The trench was excavated in heavily laterized rock, with only a surficial cuirass developed. Channel samples at depths of one, two and five m were analyzed. The one m depth sample identified gold mineralization over 24 m at 1.24 g/t Au, the two m depth sample 18 m at 1.44 g/t Au and the five m depth sample 20 m at 4.13 g/t Au (including 1 m at 71.6 g/t Au). The sampling is in excellent agreement with the previous drilling.

MATR002 was excavated 350 m to the south of MATR001, and was designed to test a narrow mineralized zone intercepted in SAAC235 containing three m at 1.11 g/t Au. Sampling at a depth of one and four m over the 29 m length of this trench did not detect gold grades greater than 0.13 g/t Au. It is likely that the trench did not continue far enough eastward to intercept the mineralization.

Technical details

Both trenches at each of Tarabala and Massala were excavated to a depth of five m. Trench lengths varied from 28 to 50 m at Tarabala, and 29 to 70 m at Massala to account for the width of the mineralization projected to surface from the previous drilling programs at both prospects. The total length of the trenches was 211 m. Continuous horizontal channel samples were collected every metre for the length of the trench. One-metre vertical channel samples were collected from zero to five m depth, at a maximum of five m along the trench. Sometimes the interval was reduced in areas of obvious mineralization characterized by veining and discolouration. Some of the samples were merged to produce two m wide composites in areas of enhanced quartz veining in trenches MATR001 and TATR002.

The excavation was performed by a local contractor under the supervision of Compass geologists. All samples were prepared by Compass staff, and an appropriate number of standards, duplicates and blanks were submitted and analyzed for gold using cyanide-leach (LeachWELL) analysis at SGS (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso).

About Compass Gold Corp.

Compass, a public company having been incorporated into Ontario, is a Tier 2 issuer on the TSX Venture Exchange. Through the 2017 acquisition of MGE and Malian subsidiaries, Compass holds gold exploration permits located in Mali that comprise the Sikasso property. The exploration permits are located in three sites in southern Mali with a combined landholding of 1,173 square kilometres. The Sikasso property is located in the same region as several multimillion-ounce gold projects, including Morila, Syama, Kalana and Komana. The company's Mali-based technical team, led in the field by Dr. Madani Diallo and under the supervision of Dr. Sandy Archibald, PGeo, is conducting the current exploration program. They are examining numerous anomalies first noted in Dr. Archibald's August, 2017, "National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Sikasso Property, Southern Mali."

Qualified person

This news release has been reviewed and approved by EurGeol Dr. Archibald, PGeo, Compass's technical director, the qualified person for the technical information in this news release under National Instrument 43-101 standards.

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