Rupert Resources Reports New Results From Its Heinä Central and Ikkari Drill Programs

Rupert Resources Ltd (“Rupert” or the “Company”), a company advancing the multi-million-ounce Ikkari gold deposit and new regional discoveries at the company’s 100% owned Rupert Lapland Project in Northern Finland, is pleased to announce new drill results that strengthen our Ikkari resource, demonstrate the potential for a satellite deposit, and introduce a high-grade copper component to mineralization in the district.

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Figure 1. Discoveries and base of till anomalies at the Rupert Lapland Project including Heinä Central and Ikkari (Graphic: Business Wire)

Rupert announced on September 13, 2021 a National Instrument 43-101 inferred mineral resource estimate of 49 million tonnes (“Mt”) at 2.5 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”) for 3.95 million ounces¹. Rupert is well-funded to maintain momentum: the Company has contracted rig capacity capable of drilling a budgeted 90,000 metres (“m”) to the end of 2022. Approximately 60% of drilling will be focused on upgrading and expanding the Ikkari resource estimate, with the remainder allocated to a regional program targeting potential satellite orebodies and new discoveries of scale.

HIGHLIGHTS

Heinä Central:

• New drilling demonstrates both the satellite potential at Heinä Central, located 1 kilometre (km) north of Ikkari, and highlights associated high-grade copper (“Cu”) potential with multiple intervals including copper grades in excess of 1% (tables 1 and 2a) .
• High-grade copper: Hole #121088 returned 1.0 g/t Au and 1.6% Cu over 56m from 131m (101m vertical), including 2.4g/t Au and 3.9% Cu over 10m.
• High-grade gold: Potential indicated by Hole #121116 which intersected 40.3g/t Au over 6.7m, including 259g/t Au over 1m from 104m
• Previously reported metallurgical work indicates potentially straightforward processing.

Ikkari:

• Six new drill holes from Ikkari (tables 1 and 2b) strengthen the resource on tighter drill spacing with high-grade gold underground potential indicated by drill hole #121115, which returned 7.7 g/t Au over 30m from 457m (375m vertical).
• Circa 20 holes pending

James Withall, CEO of Rupert Resources commented “In a very short-time frame, we have clearly demonstrated our technical understanding in delineating what is becoming a significant mineralized district. Leveraging our exploration methodology, we have advanced from discovery to delineation of a baseline resource of scale at Ikkari in a very efficient timeline, and our regional program continues to show the district’s scale through growing discoveries and identifying new targets. The results reported today from Heinä Central show increased grade and down-hole widths at depth, and highlight its potential to contribute to the critical mass attained by Ikkari.”

Ikkari and Heinä Central are two of six discoveries identified and drilled to date that are located on a 5 kilometres (“km”) long highly prospective section of a 20km regional domain-bounding structure, located within the 595km² Rupert Lapland Project. The six discoveries were made within one year (Q2 2019 to Q2 2020).

HEINÄ CENTRAL

Recent drilling from the regional program has been focused on the Heinä Central discovery, located 1km north of Ikkari (figure 1), as part of an ongoing definition drilling program.

Previous limited drilling at Heinä Central intersected not only broad intervals of gold mineralization, but also copper. The copper component has the potential to add significant value to the asset as we further progress our understanding.

Previously reported copper results from late 2019 and January 2021 include:

• 1.5% Cu and 3.3g/t Au over 10.6m from 84m, including 12.3g/t Au over 2.0m and 1.8% Cu over 6.0 m (#119062)
• 1.3% Cu and 1.0g/t Au over 20m from 225m (#120116)
• 0.8% Cu & 0.4g/t Au over 37.5m from 154m, including 2.7% Cu & 0.9g/t Au / 5m from 166m (#119049)
• 0.3% Cu and 1.2 g/t Au over 57.9m from 127m (#120114)
• 0.5% Cu and 1.4g/t Au over 31m from 64m (#119044)

New drill results

The current drill program at Heinä Central comprises a series of drill traverses 40m apart, which is designed to explore the extent and grade of the main mineralised zone (figure 2). The new results continue to demonstrate the potential for economic gold and copper mineralisation over broad zones.

Higher gold grades are associated with silica-sericite-pyrite alteration and often contain disseminated visible gold e.g. hole #121090 5.1g/t Au over 12m, including 15.7g/t Au over 3m. Shallower intercepts e.g. hole #121095 2.0g/t Au and 1.0% Cu over 13.3m from 49.9m (40m vertical) indicate that the Heinä Central mineralisation outcrops beneath till cover.

The mineralised system remains open to depth, with the broadest intercept recorded in the deepest hole #121088 1.0g/t Au and 1.5% Cu over 56m from 131m (figure 3). The broad intercept reported here may represent the merging of several lenses. As previously reported (see release 19 January 2021), preliminary metallurgical investigation indicates that conventional flotation can recover up to 90.4% of the gold and 99.5% of the copper.

Results presented here are from the first of the new drill sections and have delineated several north-dipping, gold-bearing zones of massive to semi-massive sulphides that include a significant chalcopyrite-associated copper component, as a broader halo to the gold mineralised zone. Sulphide zones form lens-like breccias with rounded clasts of pre-existing quartz-carbonate veining.

Results are pending for adjacent sections and further drilling will include testing the down-dip extent.

IKKARI PROGRAM

New drilling at Ikkari has been limited by seasonal access constraints. Deeper step outs and infill through the high yielding core of the deposit is planned once freezing has improved ground conditions and optimal drilling angles are possible. Six new holes are released today. These new intercepts all fall outside the open pit shell as modelled for the September 2021 resource and show the potential for high-grade underground potential. Circa 20 holes from Ikkari are pending.

Highlights include:

• # 121115 which contained three mineralised intercepts:
  • 2.8g/t Au over 15m from 385m (320m vertical),
  • 7.7g/t Au over 30m from 457m (375m vertical) and
  • 13.5g/t Au over 3m from 532m (435m vertical).
• #121104K intersected 5.7g/t Au over 14m from 540m (480m vertical).
• #121093 intersected 1.9g/t Au over 36m from 402m (347m vertical)

In the past year, the majority of drilling has been weighted to advancing Ikkari to a maiden resource estimate. New regional targets continue to be identified through the ongoing base of till sampling program and these are being followed up with reconnaissance diamond drilling. At Heinä Central, the drilling focus has been on delineating extent and grade of the mineralised zone. Similar drill programs are planned at Heinä South during the winter drilling season.

Geological interpretation

Ikkari and Heinä Central were discovered using systematic regional exploration that initially focused on geochemical sampling of the bedrock/till interface through glacial till deposits of 5m to 40m thickness. No outcrop is present, and topography is dominated by low-lying swamp areas.

The Ikkari deposit occurs within rocks that have been regionally mapped as 2.05-2.15 billion years (“Ga”) old Savukoski group greenschist-metamorphosed mafic-ultramafic volcanic rocks, part of the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt (“CLGB”). Gold mineralisation is largely confined to the structurally modified unconformity at a significant domain boundary. Younger sedimentary lithologies are complexly interleaved, with intensely altered ultramafic rocks, and the mineralized zone is bounded to the north by a steeply N-dipping cataclastic zone. In general, alteration and structure appear to be sub-vertical, with lithologies generally dipping ~70 degrees north.

The main mineralized zone is strongly altered and characterised by intense veining and foliation that frequently overprint original textures. An early phase of finely laminated, grey ankerite/dolomite veins is overprinted by stockwork-like irregular siderite ± quartz ± chlorite ± sulphide veins. These vein arrays are often deformed with shear-related boudinage and in situ brecciation. Magnetite and/or haematite are common, in association with pyrite. Hydrothermal alteration commonly comprises quartz-dolomite-chlorite-magnetite (±haematite). Gold is hosted by disseminated and vein-related pyrite. Multi-phase breccias are well developed within the mineralised zone, with early silicified cataclastic phases overprinted by late, carbonate- iron-oxide- rich, hydrothermal breccias which display a subvertical control. All breccias frequently host disseminated pyrite, and are often associated with bonanza gold grades, particularly where magnetite or haematite is prevalent. In the sedimentary lithologies, albite alteration is intense and pervasive, with pyrite-magnetite (± gold) hosted in veinlets in brittle fracture zones.

At Heinä Central, the multiple sulphide zones identified (25 to >50% pyrrhotite + chalcopyrite + pyrite) are hosted by cataclastic quartz-dolomite breccia within a sedimentary sequence that includes interbedded siltstone and carbonaceous shale. This sequence is intruded by mafic dykes, and intermediate intrusives are also present. Brecciation is associated with a broad, complex structural zone that is related to decoupling along lithological contacts and localised folding.

About the Rupert Lapland Project

The Rupert Lapland Project is located in the epicentre of the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt, Northern Finland, where the company has made six new discoveries including the high quality Ikkari Project with an inferred mineral resource estimate of 49Mt at 2.5 g/t gold for 3.95 million ounces¹. The Rupert Lapland Project also holds the permitted Pahtavaara mine and mill (on active care & maintenance) within a regional land package of some 595km². The Company acquired the project for USD $2.5m in 2016 and is undertaking exploration both at the existing mine and across the region to demonstrate the potential for significant economic mineralisation. The Ikkari deposit and five other discoveries are located in a structural corridor that lies between Kittilä Group allochthon to the north and the younger Kumpu Group basin to the south. The mineralised area is dominated by large E-W to ENE trending faults which have controlled broad to isoclinal folding within the sediment-dominated (Savukoski Group) rock package. A complex network of cross cutting structures has focused multi-stage fluid flow, with gold mineralisation associated with massive to fine-grained disseminated sulphides and concentrated at favourable structural intersections.

Review by Qualified Person, Quality Control and Reports

Dr Charlotte Seabrook, MAIG, RPGeo., Exploration Manager of Rupert, is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the accuracy of scientific and technical information in this news release.

Samples are prepared by ALS Finland in Sodankylä and assayed in ALS laboratories in Ireland, Romania or Sweden. All samples are under watch from the drill site to the storage facility. Samples are assayed using fire assay method with aqua regia digest and analysis by AAS for gold. Over limit analysis for >10 ppm Au is conducted using fire assay and gravimetric finish for assays over >100ppm Au. For multi-element assays, Ultra Trace Level Method by HF-HNO3-HClO4 acid digestion, HCl leach and a combination of ICP-MS and ICP-AES are used. The Company’s QA/QC program includes the regular insertion of blanks and standards into the sample shipments, as well as instructions for duplication. Standards, blanks and duplicates are inserted at appropriate intervals. Approximately five percent (5%) of the pulps and rejects are sent for check assaying at a second laboratory.

Base of till samples are prepared in ALS Sodankylä by dry-sieving method prep-41 and assayed for gold by fire assay with ICP-AES finish. Multi-elements are assayed in ALS laboratories in either of Ireland, Romania or Sweden by aqua regia with ICP-MS finish. Rupert maintains a strict chain of custody procedure to manage the handling of all samples. The Company’s QA/QC program includes the regular insertion of blanks and standards into the sample shipments, as well as instructions for duplication.

About Rupert

¹Rupert Resources is a gold exploration and development company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “RUP.” The Company is focused on making and advancing discoveries of scale and quality with high margin and low environmental impact potential. The Company’s principal focus is Ikkari, a new high quality gold discovery in Northern Finland with an National Instrument 43-101 inferred mineral resource estimate (“MRE”) of 49 million tonnes (“Mt”) at 2.5 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”), for 3.95 million ounces (“oz”) in total (see the technical report entitled “NI 43-101 Technical Report: Ikkari Project, Finland” with an effective date of September 13, 2021 prepared by Brian Wolfe, Principal Consultant, International Resource Solutions Pty Ltd., an independent qualified person under NI 43-101: the “Ikkari Technical Report”).

The MRE has been estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (“CIM”) “Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines”. It was calculated using the multiple indicator kriging method (MIK) and is classified as an inferred mineral resource as defined by the CIM. Numbers are affected by rounding. The MRE was reported using cut-offs of 0.6g/t Au for mineralisation potentially mineable by open pit methods and 1.2g/t Au for that portion that is potentially extractable by underground methods. The cut-offs were based on a gold price of US$1430/oz Au, with a 92% overall recovery and costs derived from benchmarks and first principles (see: the Ikkari Technical Report). Mineral Resources do not include Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that any part of the Mineral Resources will be converted to Mineral Reserves.

Ikkari is part of the Company’s “Rupert Lapland Project”, which also includes the Pahtavaara gold mine, mill, and exploration permits and concessions located in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt of Northern Finland (“Pahtavaara”). The Company also holds a 100% interest in the Surf Inlet Property in British Columbia, a 100% interest in properties in Central Finland and a 20% carried participating interest in the Gold Centre property located adjacent to the Red Lake mine in Ontario.

For further information, please contact:

Rupert Resources Ltd
82 Richmond Street East, Suite 203, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1P1
Tel: +1 416-304-9004

Web: http://rupertresources.com/

Neither the 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 Statements

This press release contains statements which, other than statements of historical fact constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to: results of exploration activities and mineral resources. The words “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made, and are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other known and unknown factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the general risks of the mining industry, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's annual Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended February 28, 2021 available at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company 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. 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. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

APPENDIX

Table 1. Collar locations of new drill holes

Notes to table: The coordinates are in ETRS89 Z35 and all holes are surveyed at 3m intervals downhole and all core is orientated.

Table 2a. New Intercepts from Heinä Central

No upper cut-off grade and a 0.4g/t Au and 0.1% Cu lower cut-off applied. Italic intervals indicate only copper cut off applied. Unless specified, true widths cannot be accurately determined from the information available. Bold intervals referred to in text of release. Refer to https://rupertresources.com/news/ for details of previously released drilling intercepts. EOH– End of Hole. No significant intercepts reported in hole 121090.

Table 2b. New Intercepts from Ikkari

No upper cut-off grade and a 0.4g/t Au and 0.1% Cu lower cut-off applied. Italic intervals indicate only copper cut off applied. Unless specified, true widths cannot be accurately determined from the information available. Bold intervals referred to in text of release. Refer to https://rupertresources.com/news/ for details of previously released drilling intercepts. EOH– End of Hole.

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