Aurelius Minerals Inc. (TSX.V: AUL) (the “Company” or “Aurelius”) is pleased to announce it has commenced the initial 10,000 metre (“m”) drill program at the Aureus Gold Project, located in Nova Scotia. The Phase One program is focussed on the extension of known mineralization at depth, along strike and aiming to confirm the presence of multiple saddle systems. Aurelius has contracted Major Drilling to execute the Phase One program.

Highlights

• 10,000m initial program will commence with approximately 6,000m of underground drilling at the Aureus East project (“Aureus East”) and, once final approvals are received, continue concurrently with approximately 4,000m of surface drilling at the Aureus West project (“Aureus West”);
• Underground drilling at Aureus East aims to extend the depth of previously known mineralization and discover additional auriferous saddles.

Surface drilling at Aureus West will aim to extend the mineralized corridor past the approximately 1.5km of strike length and drill laterally to confirm the potential for parallel saddle systems. Aurelius aims to follow the apex of the anticline and the multiple gold bearing saddles down to a depth of at least 750m in its first phase of drilling at Aureus East. The Aureus West program aims to drill to depths of up to 1km from surface and covering 2000m of strike along the main anticline. There is evidence from surface mapping, Lidar and historical drilling of the presence of additional anticlines, potentially with their own gold bearing saddle veins to the north and south of the main anticline.

Mark N.J. Ashcroft, P.Eng, President and CEO of Aurelius stated, "We are excited to begin our initial 10,000m drill program at the Aureus Gold Project. Our most recent press release (August 5, 2020), demonstrated the potential of the Aureus Gold Project, as we released initial assays from the first hole of the nearly 2,500m of historical core from the Aureus West and Aureus East projects that had been securely stored and had not been sampled or assayed. Initial assays demonstrated gold occurrences in saddles and identified mineralization in rock, previously thought barren.”

In addition to the commencement of drilling at Aureus Gold, the Company is continuing its geological compilation work at the Tangier and Forest Hill projects ahead of future drilling. Further to the Company’s last press release (August 5, 2020), approximately 2500m of previously unsampled and un-assayed drill core is currently at the assay labs and results will be released to the market as they become available. The Company is currently conducting fire assay sampling of the entire hole. When in expected gold hosting saddle veins or grade thresholds in the surrounding host rocks are reached, metallic screening is conducted, leading to more extensive assay results.

COVID-19 Precautions

Aurelius has developed and implemented compliant precautions and procedures that are in line with guidelines for the Province of Nova Scotia. Protocols were put in place to ensure the safety of our employees and contractors, thereby reducing the potential for community contact and spreading of the virus.

Mr. Jeremy Niemi, P.Geo. and Vice President, Exploration of Aurelius and the Company’s Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for the Abitibi Greenstone Belt properties, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this release.

About Aurelius

Aurelius is a well-positioned gold exploration company focused on advancing its recently acquired and renamed Aureus Gold Properties, including Aureus West, the Tangier Gold Project and the Forest Hill Gold Project located in Nova Scotia and described in detail in the Company’s press release of November 18, 2019. The high-grade Aureus Gold Project and mill in Nova Scotia completed initial gold production from test milling of a bulk sample in March 2017. The Aureus Gold Project covers 1,684 hectares in 104 mineral claims with a gold-bearing vein system defined by diamond drilling over a strike length of 1.4 km and to a depth of 400 meters (m), with 14 different east-west trending “saddle reef” quartz vein structures recognized each with free-milling gold. The stacked gold reefs are open at depth and extend along trend for over 3.2 kilometers (km) within the Aureus East and Aureus West projects, with additional strike length up to a total of 11 km of strike length. Underground development completed to date has extended to approximately 600m in length and to a depth of only 150m. The Aureus Gold Project is on care and maintenance and is accessible for future work, such as underground exploration drilling. The Company intends to conduct underground diamond drilling at the Aureus East Gold Project with the objectives of identifying high-grade saddles at depth and completing additional drilling to upgrade current Inferred Mineral Resources and intends to extend Aureus West along strike and at depth and complete an updated Mineral Resource estimate and engineering review for the Aureus Gold Project.

Aurelius is also focused on advancing two district-scale gold projects in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Ontario, Canada, one of the world’s most prolific mining districts; the 968-hectare Mikwam Property, in the Burntbush area on the Casa Berardi trend and the 12,425-hectare Lipton Property, on the Lower Detour Trend. In 2018, Ontario converted its manual system of ground and paper staking and maintaining unpatented mining claims to an online system. All active, unpatented claims were converted from their legally defined location to a cell-based provincial grid. The Mikwam Property is comprised of 9 legacy claims consisting of 69 Cell Claims including 29 Single Cell Mining Claims (“SCMC’s”) and 40 Boundary Cell Mining Claims (“BCMC’s”). The Lipton Property is now comprised of 57 legacy claims consisting of 721 Cell Claims, 563 SCMC’s, 143 BCMC’s, and 30 “internal” and overlapping (i.e., two occupying the same space) BCMC’s.

The Company has a sound management team with experience in all facets of the mineral exploration and mining industry who will be considering additional acquisitions of advanced staged opportunities in Nova Scotia, the Abitibi and other proven mining districts.

On Behalf of the Board
AURELIUS MINERALS INC.

For further information please contact:

Aurelius Minerals Inc.
Mark N.J. Ashcroft, President & CEO
info@aureliusminerals.com
Tel.: (416) 304-9095
www.aureliusminerals.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains “forward-looking information” under the provisions of applicable Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Aurelius. All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to Aurelius within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to the Company’s planned drilling and exploration activities, the anticipated benefits of the Acquisition and the development of the Aureus Gold Properties, the future price of gold, the estimation of Mineral Resources, the realization of Mineral Resource estimates, success of exploration activities, permitting time lines, currency exchange rate fluctuations, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance coverage. Generally, this forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" , "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" , "believes", or variations or comparable language of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of factors and assumptions that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Aurelius to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which Aurelius will operate in the future, including the price of gold, anticipated costs and ability to achieve goals.

Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking information include, among others, gold price volatility, mining operational and development risks, litigation risks, regulatory restrictions (including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability), changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls or regulations and/or change in the administration of laws, policies and practices, expropriation or nationalization of property and political or economic developments in Canada, delays, suspension and technical challenges associated with projects, higher prices for fuel, steel, power, labour and other consumables, currency fluctuations, the speculative nature of gold exploration, the global economic climate, dilution, share price volatility, competition, loss of key employees, additional funding requirements and defective title to mineral claims or property. Although Aurelius believes its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions and has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.

The Company provides forward-looking information for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Aurelius to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to difficulties in executing exploration programs at the Mikwam, Lipton and Aureus Gold Properties on the Company’s proposed schedules and within its cost and scheduling estimates, whether due to weather conditions, availability or interruption of power supply, mechanical equipment performance problems, natural disasters or pandemics in the areas where it operates, the integration of acquisition; risks related to current global financial conditions including market reaction to the coronavirus outbreak; competition within the industry; actual results of current exploration activities; environmental risks; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future price of gold; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; mine development and operating risks; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining approvals or financing; risks related to indebtedness and the service of such indebtedness, as well as those factors, risks and uncertainties identified and reported in Aurelius’ public filings under Aurelius’ SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although Aurelius has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Aurelius disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.