Nighthawk Retains JDS Energy & Mining to Conduct Engineering Studies at Colomac and is Proceeding with Share Consolidation

TORONTO, Jan. 8, 2020 - Nighthawk Gold Corp. ("Nighthawk" or the "Company") (TSX: NHK; OTCQX: MIMZF) is pleased to announce it has retained leading engineering firm, JDS Energy & Mining Inc. ("JDS"), to complete an initial internal, high-level scoping study (not prepared in compliance with NI 43-101, the "Study"), that will examine the economic potential of the Colomac Gold Project ("Colomac"). As previously announced, a mineral resource estimate is being completed which the Company anticipates will be ready within the first half of the year and which is expected to include a mineral resource update for Colomac and a maiden mineral resource estimate for the Damoti Lake Gold deposit. The updated resource estimate for Colomac will serve as the basis for the Study which will examine both open pit and underground mining potential. As well, the Company is moving forward with its proposed consolidation (the "Share Consolidation") of its share capital on the basis of five (5) existing common shares for one (1) new common share.

Dr. Michael Byron, President and CEO commented, "With previous shareholder support for the Share Consolidation, the timing is right to enact the rollback which we believe will allow Nighthawk to gain exposure to a broader shareholder base. With our continued efforts, we strongly believe that the Indin Lake Gold Property has the endowments to become one of Canada's premier gold camps, which already has a robust project with a multi-million-ounce inferred mineral resource at its centre. To that end, we are engaging JDS to initiate engineering studies to examine the potential development and mining opportunities at Colomac. We look forward embarking on this important step forward in advancing Colomac."

Jeff Stibbard, Chief Executive Officer of JDS commented, "We are happy to be working with the Nighthawk team and delivering on our commitment to help work toward their initial engineering studies to begin to consider the viability of Colomac. Nighthawk has completed enough base work to embark on the engineering path, and we are pleased to have been selected to work with them given our extensive operational and permitting experience on a number of cold weather heap leach and Northwest Territories mining projects such as Eagle Gold, Coffee, Hope Bay and Gahucho Kue to name a few."

Internal Scoping Study
JDS is a renowned engineering firm with a powerful and experienced team of seasoned professionals. JDS has successfully designed, constructed and operated similar projects in the region. They have taken many stranded or un-optimized assets and engineered them to a positive result by focusing on the economics to ensure projects are scoped correctly. They also acquire, design, permit, finance, build and operate their own projects, making them well known to the investment community and better equipped to understand the needs of their clients.

Share Consolidation
Currently, a total of 223,360,996 common shares in the capital of the Company are issued and outstanding. Accordingly, if put into effect on the basis of five (5) existing common shares for one (1) new common share, a total of approximately 44,672,199 common shares in the capital of the Company would be issued and outstanding following the Share Consolidation, assuming no other change in the issued capital. The Share Consolidation is anticipated to become effective on or about January 13, 2020.

The Share Consolidation will affect all of the Company's stock options, and share units issued and outstanding at the effective date. At the time of the Share Consolidation, the number, exchange basis or exercise price of all stock options and share units will be adjusted, as applicable, to reflect the one-for-five Share Consolidation. The actual adjustment will be made by the Company in consultation with its advisors.

The Share Consolidation was previously approved by shareholders at a meeting held on June 3, 2019 and has been conditionally approved by the Toronto Stock Exchange. Please refer to the management information circular of the Company dated April 30, 2019, for additional details on the Share Consolidation. The circular is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Nighthawk
Nighthawk is a Canadian-based gold exploration company with 100% ownership of a district-scale land position within the Indin Lake Greenstone Belt, located approximately 200 km north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Nighthawk is focused on advancing the Colomac Gold Project with a current inferred resource of 2.6 million ounces of gold (50.3 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.62 grams per tonne gold), as well as advancing its other regional gold deposits and showings within this largely underexplored Archean gold camp.

The Company has an experienced and dedicated team and is well funded to complete its goals and objectives over the next 12 months.

Qualified Person
Dr. Michael J. Byron, Ph.D., P.Geo., President & Chief Executive Officer of Nighthawk, who is the "Qualified Person" as defined by NI 43-101 for this project, has reviewed and approved of the technical disclosure contained in this news release. Please refer to NI 43-101 technical report "Technical Report and mineral resource estimate update on the Colomac Property of the Indin Lake Project", dated June 13, 2018, as filed under the company's profile on www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information with respect to: the Share Consolidation; an updated mineral resource estimate for Colomac and a maiden resource estimate for Damoti and the timing and results thereof; future economic studies and the timing and results thereof. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "occur", or "be achieved".

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is made, and is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Nighthawk to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks associated with the exploration, development and mining such as economic factors as they affect exploration, future commodity prices, changes in foreign exchange and interest rates, actual results of current exploration activities, government regulation, political or economic developments, environmental risks, permitting timelines, capital expenditures, operating or technical difficulties in connection with development activities, employee relations, the speculative nature of gold exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities of grades of reserves, contests over title to properties, and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as those risk factors discussed in Nighthawk's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2018, available on www.sedar.com. Although Nighthawk has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause 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 information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Nighthawk does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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SOURCE Nighthawk Gold Corp.