Nighthawk Gold Corp. Commences Phase I of the 2021 Exploration Program on Its Indin Lake Gold Property

The Phase I program commenced during the third week of March and is expected to be completed by the end of July. The program will then transition into Phase II, enabling the delineation of new discoveries and/or additional extensions of known zones based on Phase I results. The Phase I program anticipates 41,420 metres of planned drilling (with an approximate split of 45% on resource expansion targets and 55% on greenfield targets). There are currently three (3) drills active which will ramp up to five (5) active drills by the end of April.

Richard Roy, VP Exploration commented: "We are very excited to embark on the 2021 program, which will be our most ambitious drilling campaign to date. We have assembled a mix of targets that support our two-year goals with an emphasis on near-surface mineralization. We believe that this approach can rapidly identify quality ounces that can contribute significantly to the global resources of the property.

"In addition, considerable work will be done on the newly acquired Kim & Cass Property where the Cass Zone has a historical, non-compliant resource. This work is expected to bring the Cass Zone into compliance with NI 43-101 standards, while additional drilling will potentially increase its contribution to the global resource base. Finally, a series of greenfield targets have been selected to test a variety of deposit settings with near-surface mineralization that have never been drill tested by the Company. This level of greenfield work allows us to broadly test and better understand the true potential of our land position, and to ensure that we do not miss out on any new and exciting discoveries."

The Company has established an aggressive plan for 2021, focused on targeting near-surface mineralization and has been split into two (2) phases, with Phase II allocation of metres based on success from Phase I. Drilling targets for the 2021 program were discussed as part of the 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate (the "2021 MRE").

The program has three main objectives:

• Resource Expansion: All known mineralized zones part of the 2021 MRE, continue to hold near surface pit-constrained potential both laterally and at depth. These areas will be drilled early in the program with the objective of increasing the in-pit resource.

• Greenfield Exploration: A series of grassroots targets have been selected for drilling. Priority has been given to near-surface, higher grade potential targets proximal to the Colomac Center (including Nice Lake, JPK, Laurie Lake, and Andy Lake among others); and

• Target Assessment: to evaluate, expand, and include known mineralization that can contribute to the global resource base (for example the Cass & Kim Zones, targets within the Leta Arm Trend, and the Treasure Island Zone)

In addition to the drill program the Company plans to conduct a till sampling program covering a 15km radius surrounding the main Colomac Deposit. The till sampling program will look to identify and target gold-bearing sectors not identified by previous work, and to help discover new anomalous gold zones to better understand and manage the landholdings.

Qualified Person

Richard Roy P.Geo., V.P. Exploration 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.

Technical Information

Nighthawk has implemented a quality-control program to comply with best practices in the sampling and analysis of drill core. Drill core samples were transported in security-sealed bags for analyses at ALS Chemex Assay Laboratory in Vancouver, BC ("ALS Chemex"). ALS Chemex is an ISO 9001:2000 certified laboratory. Pulp and metallics assaying for gold was conducted on the entire pulverized sample.

As part of its QA/QC program, Nighthawk inserts external gold standards (low to high grade) and blanks every 20 samples in addition to the standards, blanks, and pulp duplicates inserted by ALS Chemex.

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 200km north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Within this largely underexplored Archean gold camp, the Company has identified a number of high-priority targets all centered around a growing multi-million-ounce deposit. These targets lie within large regional deformation zones that are pregnant with gold mineralization and are known to host significant deposits which warrant additional exploration and follow-up. The main goals and objectives over the next 12-24 months will be to carry out aggressive exploration to support resource expansion opportunities as well as to foster new, near-surface discoveries that support the global resource base.

The Company has an experienced and dedicated team with a track record of successfully advancing projects and is well funded and supported to advance its goals and objectives.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Nighthawk Gold Corp.

Tel: 1-647-794-4313; Email: info@nighthawkgold.com

Website: www.nighthawkgold.com

The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

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 Company's continued exploration programs and the ability to advance targets and the timing and results thereof; the ability to increase the global mineral resource base with additional drilling; the mineral resource estimate; and access to available capital to complete all work necessary to achieve the Company's stated goals and objectives. 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 effect 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, 2019, 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.

SOURCE: Nighthawk Gold Corp.