Southern Empire Resources Corp. Drilling Update for the Eastgate Gold Project

Eastgate Gold Project - Core Drill Program Highlights:

• - Approximately 915 metres (3,000 feet) of core drilling to be completed

  - First phase of drilling is expected to finish in approximately three weeks

• - Core drill program is intended to confirm historical gold mineralization outlined by a fan of RC drill holes completed by Cabot Resources Corp. in 1990, the results of which included:

*drill intercept length - true thickness unknown

Data Verification, Sampling Procedures and Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC)

No historical RC drill cuttings exist for the Eastgate Gold Project. Historical RC hole locations are based on exploration map grids that have been subsequently field checked and tied into the UTM co-ordinate system. With no reliable downhole survey data available for historical drill holes, there is uncertainty regarding their relative end of hole positions. Falcon Drilling, Inc., of Carson City, Nevada are the drill contractors for Southern Empire's current program.

For the 2020 core drill program, all drill core will be logged (geological and geotechnical), tagged, photographed, sawn and zones of significant alteration and veining will be sampled. Down-hole orientation surveys will be performed for the current drill program using a Reflex ACTIII orientation tool on the drill.

Drill core will be retained for a permanent record and stored in a secure facility in Fallon, Nevada. One-half of selected drill core samples will be recorded, checked and sealed in individual plastic bags and delivered for analyses to the geochemistry laboratory of ALS USA Inc. in Reno, Nevada, which conforms with the Standards Council of Canada, Requirements and Guidance for the Accreditation of Testing Laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025:2005, RG-MINERAL).

About the Eastgate Gold Project, Nevada

The Eastgate Gold Project is 85% owned by Southern Empire and comprises 101 unpatented lode mining claims covering roughly 817 hectares (2,020 acres) located approximately 81 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of the city of Fallon in Churchill County, Nevada.

Southern Empire's goal is to define a high-grade gold/silver deposit at Eastgate hosted by a system of multiple, steeply dipping, subparallel low-sulphidation, quartz-adularia epithermal veins occurring throughout the property. Small scale, narrow-vein production occurred, between 1908 to 1920 and 1935 to 1957, at the Double Eagle and Gold Ledge mines on the property. Eastgate is located roughly 24 km (15 miles) northeast of the Bell Mountain Gold Project currently undergoing final mine permitting by Eros Resources Corp., a company that owns approximately 22% of Southern Empire.

For the Eastgate Gold Project, Southern Empire has received a notice-level permit from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM; an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior) for road construction, surface clearing, pad preparation and the completion of five core drill holes. This permit is valid for two years expiring in 2022, extendible to 2023 (see Southern Empire's news release of March 26, 2020).

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been prepared, reviewed, verified and approved by David Tupper, P.Geo. (British Columbia), Southern Empire's VP Exploration and a Qualified Person within the context of Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101; Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Work Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

While the timing of Southern Empire's exploration programs will be contingent on governmental regulation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, no meaningful delays to the completion of the Eastgate drill program are anticipated. Southern Empire and all subcontractors are adhering to all government regulated COVID-19 protocols and restrictions regarding personnel management, lodging, and travel.

About Southern Empire Resources Corp.

Southern Empire is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of gold deposits in North America. In addition to the Eastgate Gold Project in Nevada, Southern Empire holds an option to acquire a 75% interest in the Oro Cruz Gold Project in the Cargo Muchacho Mountains of Imperial County, southeast California, approximately 22.5 km (14 miles) southeast of the Mesquite gold mine of Equinox Gold Corp. The Oro Cruz Gold Project currently comprises a total of 271 unpatented lode mining claims (~2,160 hectares; 5,338 acres), 13 unpatented placer mining claims (~105 hectares; 260 acres) and two State of California mineral prospecting permits (~518 hectares; 1,280 acres).

Multiple exploration targets remain on the Oro Cruz Property based on compilation of the extensive historical drilling and mining database available.

Episodic gold mining between 1877 and 1941 in the Cargo Muchacho gold district, which included in order of importance, the Oro Cruz (Tumco), American Girl, Cargo Muchacho and Padre y Madre mines, produced an estimated 145,000 troy ounces of gold. The most recent gold production from the Oro Cruz Property was during 1995 and 1996 when, over a one-year period, the American Girl Mining Joint Venture (53% MK Gold Co. and 47% Hecla Mining Co.) produced approximately 61,000 troy ounces from gold-enriched oxide material extracted by both open-pit and underground mining operations and conventional heap leach extractive processing methods. That joint venture ceased operations in 1996 due to low gold prices.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Dale Wallster, CEO and Director

Southern Empire Resources Corp.

For further information please visit our website at www.smp.gold, see our filings on SEDAR or contact:

Lubica Keighery - phone: (778) 889-5476 e-mail: lubica@smp.gold

Cautionary Notice on Forward-Looking Information

Information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that Southern Empire expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements that reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Southern Empire cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Southern Empire's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Southern Empire's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Southern Empire undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information or statements.

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 news release.