Red Pine Drills 11.95 g/t Gold Over 4.44 Metres (True Width) at its Wawa Gold Project

TORONTO, Jan. 17, 2019 - Red Pine Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: RPX) ("Red Pine" or the "Company") announces new results from:

1. confirmation drilling in the higher grade zones of the Surluga Deposit¹ and
   
   
2. from drilling on the Minto Mine South Project².

The Minto Mine South Deposit and the Surluga Deposit are just two of the known deposits on the large 5,568 hectares Wawa Gold Project located near Wawa, ON, Canada.

Red Pine’s infill drilling results continue to support the potential for a higher-grade underground resource, accessible using the existing underground infrastructure of the Surluga Mine. The Company is on track to deliver a revised NI 43-101 resource estimate for the Surluga Deposit in April 2019.

Red Pine has a working capital of $2 million in cash and zero debt (Oct. 31, 2018 financials) and recently raised over $3.6M in a non-brokered private placement financing (Dec. 28, 2018). The Company will undertake a 23,000-metres drilling campaign on the Surluga Deposit, as well as other targets in the Wawa Gold Corridor, in 2019.

Drilling highlights (Table 1):

• Intersection of high-grade gold within the current resource envelope of the Surluga Deposit:
  • Hole SD-18-238 contains 11.95 g/t gold over 4.44 metres (true width) and 5.31 g/t gold over 1.74 metres (true width);
  • Hole SD-18-237 contains 6.26 g/t gold over 2.4 metres (true width) including 15.4 g/t gold over 0.93 metres (true width).
  
• Discovery of another high-grade quartz vein in the Minto Stockwork:
  • Hole SD-18-219 contains 17.66 g/t gold over 1.2 metres.

Quentin Yarie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Pine, stated, "The latest results continue to validate our model of a high-grade resource at the Surluga Deposit. Assay results for another 42 holes that were completed as part of this first phase of infill drilling are still pending and we expect results to fall in line with what we’ve observed so far. Indicators such as visible gold or arsenopyrite, typically associated with zones of stronger gold mineralization in the Surluga Deposit, were observed in many of the pending holes. We’ve developed a good understanding of the formation and geometry of the high-grade mineralization zones at the Wawa Gold Project and this will continue to guide us as we further develop the Project.”

Table 1. Assay results highlights from the 2018 drilling in the Jubilee Shear Zone

*Assay results in the Minto Stockwork and discovered gold zones presented as core length. Additional drilling is necessary to constrain the geometry and true width of the zones forming the Minto Stockwork and of the discovered gold zones.

Figure 1. Plan map of drilling results

Infill and confirmation drilling in the Jubilee Shear Zone
Red Pine’s 2018 diamond drill program, from July to December 2018, targeted strategic areas in the Surluga Deposit where geological modelling suggested that high-grade mineralization could be discovered. Drilling results to date support the potential for the Surluga Deposit to host a higher-grade gold resource, accessible using the existing underground developments of the Surluga Mine. Recent drilling is also confirming that additional gold zones exist below the Jubilee Shear Zone (host of the Surluga Deposit) and that higher grade mineralization can be found in those gold zones. Gold assays results for 42 holes completed in the Surluga Deposit are still pending. The Company remains on track to deliver an updated resource estimation for the Surluga Deposit in Q2 2019.

Wawa Gold Project Background
Since December 2014, Red Pine's exploration work has involved the ongoing sampling of 42,000 m of historic core that was never sampled by previous operators of the project, and exploration drilling campaigns. To date, the Company has completed over 59,000 m of drilling and made four discoveries along the extension of the Surluga Deposit: the Surluga North Zone; the Hornblende-William Zone; the Minto Mine South Zone; and the Grace-Darwin Zone. These are part of the Wawa Gold Corridor, a gold-mineralization zone that extends for more than 5 kilometres.

Red Pine’s on-going drill program is designed to potentially expand the size of the existing inferred gold resource and connect the other zones of gold mineralization along the newly-discovered Wawa Gold Corridor.

On-site Quality Assurance/Quality Control (“QA/QC”) Measures
Drill core samples were transported in security-sealed bags for analyses to Activation Laboratories Ltd. in Ancaster, Ontario. Individual samples are labeled, placed in plastic sample bags and sealed. Groups of samples are then placed into durable rice bags and then shipped. The remaining coarse reject portions of the samples remain in storage if further work or verification is needed.

Red Pine has implemented a quality-control program to comply with best practices in the sampling and analysis of drill core. As part of its QA/QC program, Red Pine inserts external gold standards (low to high grade) and blanks every 20 samples in addition to random standards, blanks, and duplicates.

Qualified Person
Quentin Yarie, P Geo. is the qualified person responsible for preparing, supervising and approving the scientific and technical content of this news release.

About Red Pine Exploration Inc.
Red Pine Exploration Inc. is a gold and base-metals exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "RPX".

Red Pine has a 60% interest in the Wawa Gold Project with Citabar LP. holding the remaining 40% interest. Red Pine is the Operating Manager of the Project and is focused on expanding the existing gold resource on the property.

For more information about the Company visit www.redpineexp.com

Or contact:
Quentin Yarie, President & CEO, (416) 364-7024, qyarie@redpineexp.com

Or Mia Boiridy, Investor Relations, (416) 364-7024, mboiridy@redpineexp.com

¹NI 43-101 inferred resource of 1,088,000 ounces of gold at 1.71 grams per tonne (g/t) using a 0.40 g/t gold cut-off grade for pit-constrained and 2.50 g/t gold cut-off grade for underground-constrained resources, contained in 19.82 million tonnes open along strike and at depth. The Cut-off grades are based on a gold price of US$1,250 per once and a gold recovery of 95 percent (Mineral Resource Statement, Surluga-Jubilee Gold Deposit, Wawa Gold Project, Ontario, SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc (effective May 26, 2015)).

²NI 43-101 maiden resource of 100,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 6.8 g/t using a cut-off grade of 3.5 g/t gold (Initial Technical Report for the Minto Mine South Property, Golder Associates Ltd. (effective Nov. 7, 218)).

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

This News Release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9833177b-bfd5-4500-8d1c-30c0ed5d4b4c