Mr. Shawn Khunkhun reports

DOLLY VARDEN SILVER ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE STRATEGIC PORTFOLIO IN GOLDEN TRIANGLE INCLUDING HIGH-GRADE HISTORIC SILVER AND COPPER PRODUCERS

Dolly Varden Silver Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement with MTB Metals Corp. to acquire MTB Metals' interests in four properties totalling over 20,000 hectares, in the Golden Triangle, further strengthening Dolly Varden's ground position in the region. These include the American Creek property (consisting of the Mountain Boy property, the Silver Crown property and the Dorothy property), the Theia property, the BA property and the Red Cliff property. Three of these properties have road access, are proximal to power and are proximal to the recently completed Premier gold-silver mill near the port of Stewart, B.C.

"Dolly Varden continues to consolidate prospective ground in the Golden Triangle with this accretive transaction, including a historic silver producer located in a similar geologic setting to the Eskay Creek gold-silver deposit and contiguous ground to our Homestake Ridge deposits. Coupled with our recently announced acquisitions of the Porter silver project and Hecla's Kinskuch project, we are positioned to become the dominant advanced explorer in the region," said Shawn Khunkhun, president and chief executive officer.

Highlights:

• The American Creek property (2,602 hectares) is centred on the past-producing Mountain Boy high-grade silver mine. A B.C. government Minfile report documents small and very high-grade silver production from the 1910s to the 1940s and 2000s with reported silver grades in mined material ranging from 8,000 to 17,000 grams per tonne silver. Historic exploration drilling previously reported by MTB Metals (MTB new release dated March 5, 2019) reported DDH-MB-2006-10 that intersected 5.10 metres of 5,258 grams per tonne silver and DDH-MB-2006-19 that intersected 6.1 m of 2,260 g/t silver from vein zones. The system remains open to depth and along strike. The property consolidated a significant land package in the American Creek corridor including the Mountain Boy, Silver Crown and Dorothy option properties. The property is host to a variety of targets with several known mineral occurrences, all of which are underexplored. The project is road accessible and 20 kilometres from the deepwater port of Stewart, six kilometres from the Premier mill and seven kilometres from Highway 37A. Favourable host stratigraphy, including rocks from the Lower and Upper Hazelton group, hosts multiple silver, gold and copper occurrences on the property, a number of which are hosted within felsic volcanic rocks with a similar primitive geochemistry to the Eskay Creek mine host rocks.
• The Theia property (9,235 hectares) is strategically located contiguous with the northern boundary of the Kitsault Valley project's Homestake Ridge property. The addition will increase the Kitsault Valley project area to over 86,000 hectares and increase the strike length of prospective Hazelton group rock to the north where receding glaciers have exposed new areas along a mineralized trend. Work by previous explorers has outlined a silver-bearing mineralized trend 500 metres long, highlighted by a 2020 selected surface grab sample that returned 39,293 grams per tonne silver from epithermal veins (previously released by MTB Metals, March 8, 2021).
• The BA property (9,490 hectares) hosts numerous mineralized showings. Historic drilling of 178 drill holes has outlined a substantial zone of silver-lead-zinc mineralization located four km from Highway 37A. Several targets with high-grade silver potential include a volcanogenic massive sulphide/epithermal hot spring deposit containing silver, lead and zinc, and remain to be drill tested. These occurrences are hosted in the same prospective Hazelton group stratigraphy as on the Kitsault Valley project. The property is located 30 km northeast of the town of Stewart, B.C. Highway 37A passes through the northern portion of the property.
• Red Cliff consists of a number of smaller Crown grants covering a past-producing gold and copper mine in which MTB Metals has a 35-per-cent interest in a joint venture. The 35-per-cent interest is being acquired by Dolly Varden. Located within the American Creek corridor, the Red Cliff property is approximately 1.0 kilometre south of the American Creek property.

"With this acquisition of the MTB Metals properties, Dolly Varden will also receive a valuable data set that includes property-wide airborne geophysics surveys (magnetics, VTEM), drill results and mapping that will integrate nicely into our regional models to help generate new target areas and prioritize follow-up work within the Hazelton group rocks," said Rob van Egmond, vice-president, exploration.

Transaction details

Dolly Varden has agreed to purchase from MTB Metals all of MTB Metals' interests to the properties for consideration of up to 500,000 common shares of Dolly Varden at a deemed value of $3.59 per common share and a net smelter return royalty of 1.0 per cent on all production from each of the Mountain Boy property, the BA property, the Theia property and the Silver Crown property. Dolly Varden will also assume and step into MTB Metals' obligations under MTB Metals' option agreement to acquire the Dorothy property and MTB Metals' joint venture agreement with respect to the Red Cliff property. The number of common shares actually issuable to MTB Metals on closing will be adjusted downward to factor in the outstanding payment obligations under the Dorothy option, if any.

MTB is at arm's length to Dolly Varden. No finders' fees or commissions are payable by the company in connection with the transaction. The issuance of the common shares and completion of the transaction remain subject to TSX Venture Exchange and NYSE American approval and other customary conditions, and is currently expected to occur near the end of May. The common shares issuable to MTB Metals will be subject to a four-month hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Pursuant to existing agreement between the company and Hecla Canada Ltd., Hecla will be entitled to acquire common shares of Dolly Varden in connection with acquisition at a price of $3.59 per pre-emptive share, to maintain its pro rata equity interest in the company. If Hecla exercises its pro rata rights, any pre-emptive shares issued will be in addition to those issued to MTB Metals as part of the acquisition.

Qualified person

Rob van Egmond, PGeo, vice-president, exploration, for Dolly Varden Silver, the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Rob van Egmond, PGeo, is not independent of the company in accordance with NI 43-101.

About Dolly Varden Silver Corp.

Dolly Varden is a mineral exploration company focused on advancing its 100-per-cent-held Kitsault Valley project (which combines the Dolly Varden project and the Homestake Ridge project) located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia, Canada, 25 km by road to tidewater. The 163-square-kilometre project hosts the high-grade silver and gold resources of Dolly Varden and Homestake Ridge along with the past-producing Dolly Varden and Torbrit silver mines. It is considered to be prospective for hosting further precious metal deposits, being on the same structural and stratigraphic belts that host numerous other, on-trend, high-grade deposits, such as Eskay Creek and Brucejack. The Kitsault Valley project also contains the Big Bulk property which is prospective for porphyry and skarn style copper and gold mineralization, similar to other such deposits in the region (Red Mountain, KSM and Red Chris).

We seek Safe Harbor.