Press Release, Contact Gold Discovers Oxide Gold in Pilot Shale 1.2 km East of Mine Trend at Green Springs

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2021) - Contact Gold Corp. (the "Company" or "Contact Gold") (TSXV: C; OTCQB: CGOL) is pleased to report results for 5 drill holes completed at the Golf Target, from the 2020 drill program at the Green Springs gold property ("Green Springs").

Key Points:

• Drilling of oxide gold in the Pilot Shale at the Golf Zone represents a significant proof of concept and indicates the potential for gold mineralization in the Pilot Shale horizon which is interpreted to extend across much of the property
• Drilling at the Golf Zone has confirmed the presence of oxidized gold mineralization representing an exciting new target 1.2 km to the east of the Mine Trend
• Results are pending for 26 holes as of the date of this release, from the Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Echo Zones

Drill Highlights:

Golf Zone:

• 0.29 g/t Au over 4.57 metres from a depth of 161 metres in hole GS20-11, 94% Cyanide recovery - Pilot Shale hosted
• 0.83 g/t Au over 7.62 meters from a depth of 1.52 metres, in hole GS20-10, 67% Cyanide recovery - Chainman shale hosted
  • Including: 1.17 g/t Au over 4.57 metres

Drilling at the Golf Zone was designed to test the near surface intervals of Chainman Shale hosted gold mineralization intersected by a previous operator in 2017, and the Pilot Shale - Guilmette Limestone contact, known to host significant gold mineralization at Green Spring's Alpha, Echo, and Bravo Zones.

Drill hole GS-2011 successfully intersected oxidized gold mineralization in the Pilot Shale with 0.29 g/t Au over 4.57 metres. The presence of oxidized, Pilot Shale hosted gold mineralization at the Golf Zone marks a significant proof of concept for the exploration model at Green Springs, and potentially opens the Golf Zone for additional mineralization in the Pilot Shale. Drill intercepts in the Chainman Shale were well oxidized and on par with historic results from 2017.

The Golf Zone is located 1.2 km due East of the historical Charlie Pit, in an area of exposed Chainman Shale. Mineralization at Golf is associated with a large gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly, strong jasperoid development, and an apparent east-west oriented structural zone. Golf was originally drilled in 2017 by a previous operator, with drilling returning 1.0 g/t Au over 6.1 metres in 2 closely spaced drill holes. Drilling by Contact Gold has confirmed the presence of gold mineralized Pilot Shale beneath Golf, representing an exciting new target 1.2 km to the east of the Mine Trend.

"While we were predominantly focused on the Pilot Shale target under the Mine Trend, we thought the target concept should work at other targets across the wider project area. Hitting gold in the Pilot Shale at Golf, some 1.2 km east of the Mine Trend, is hugely positive in both proving the concept and expanding the area in which that concept can be tested." stated Matt Lennox-King, CEO of Contact Gold. "These results continue to reinforce the untested blue-sky potential at Green Springs."

In the 2020 Green Springs program, 5,785 metres were completed in 10 core holes and 31 reverse circulation drill holes.

2020 Green Springs drill hole results from holes 9 through 13:

For a detailed plan map of the Golf zone, please click:
http://www.contactgold.com/_resources/news/20210120-GS-Golf-Plan.jpg

For a section of the Golf zone, please click:
http://www.contactgold.com/_resources/news/20210120-golf-section.jpg

About the Green Springs Project:

Green Springs is located near the southern end of the Cortez Trend of Carlin-type gold deposits in White Pine County, Nevada, adjacent to Fiore Gold's Pan Mine and Gold Rock Project and Waterton's Mount Hamilton deposit. The Green Springs property is 18.5 km2 encompassing 3 shallow past producing open pits and numerous targets that were not mined. Contact Gold's 2020 drill program stared at the Echo Zone and has progressed through the Zulu, Charlie, Alpha, Bravo, Delta and Golf Zones.

Contact Gold signed a purchase option agreement with Ely Gold Royalties ("Ely Gold") to acquire an undivided 100% interest in Green Springs in July 2019. Green Springs is an early stage exploration property and does not contain any mineral resource estimates as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource estimate at Green Springs. Additional information about Green Springs is summarized in the NI 43-101 Technical Report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Green Springs Project, White Pine County, Nevada, USA" prepared for Contact Gold, with an effective date of June 12, 2020, and dated August 5, 2020, as prepared by John J. Read, C.P.G; an independent consultant and qualified person under NI 43-101, and can be viewed under Contact Gold's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Vance Spalding, CPG, VP Exploration, Contact Gold, who is a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101. Drill intercepts were calculated using a minimum thickness of 3.05 metres averaging 0.14 ppm gold and allowing inclusion of up to 4.57 metres of material averaging less than 0.14 ppm gold for low grade intervals and higher grade intervals were calculated using a minimum thickness of 3.05 metres averaging 1.00 ppm gold and allowing inclusion of up to 4.57 metres of assays averaging less than 1.00 ppm gold. Gravimetric assays are used for all Fire Assays above 4.00 ppm gold. Cyanide solubility assays are completed on all Fire Assays greater than 0.1 g/t. True width of drilled mineralization is unknown, but owing to the apparent flat lying nature of mineralization, is estimated to generally be at least 70% of drilled thickness. The composited grades for comparison to the Bottle Roll assays are weighted averages of the amount of pulp used from individual 5 foot assays. Quality Assurance / Quality Control consists of regular insertion of certified reference standards, blanks, and duplicates. All failures are followed up and resolved whenever possible with additional investigation whenever such an event occurs. All assays are completed at Paragon; an ISO 17025:2005 accredited lab. Check assays are completed at a second, reputable assay lab after the program is complete.

About Contact Gold Corp.

Contact Gold is an exploration company focused on making district scale gold discoveries in Nevada. Contact Gold's extensive land holdings are on the prolific Carlin and Cortez gold trends which host numerous gold deposits and mines. Contact Gold's land position comprises approximately 140 km2 of target rich mineral tenure hosting numerous known gold occurrences, ranging from early- to advanced-exploration and resource definition stage.

Additional information about the Company is available at www.contactgold.com.

For more information, please contact: +1 (604) 449-3361
John Glanville - Director Investor Relations
Chris Pennimpede - VP, Corporate Development
E-mail: info@ContactGold.com

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to the anticipated exploration activities of the Company on the Green Springs property.

These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: impacts arising from the global disruption by the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar to United States dollar exchange rate); change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations pressures, cave-ins and flooding); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to properties. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.