143826\4832-7912-3352

Benchmark Metals Inc.

10545 - 45 Avenue NW

250 Southridge, Suite 300

Edmonton, AB CANADA T6H 4M9

b e n c h m a r k m e t a l s . c o m

BENCHMARK TARGETS 1.68 to 1.92 MILLION OZ. GOLD EQUIVALENT GRADING

1.71 to 1.73 AuEq G/T AT CLIFF CREEK ZONE

Edmonton – February 28th

, 2020 – Benchmark Metals Inc. (the "Company" or

"Benchmark") (TSX-V: BNCH) (OTCQB: CYRTF) (WKN: A2JM2X) – is pleased to report the

review and definition of a drill-defined, bulk-tonnage Exploration Target for the Cliff Creek

Zone. The Cliff Creek exploration target currently measures 1.2 km in strike length, 300 metres

wide and 300 metres deep while remaining open in all directions. Using current and validated

historical data, the Zone hosts a target of 1,682,000 ounces gold equivalent (AuEq) up to

1,923,000 ounces AuEq with an average grade ranging from 1.71 grams per tonne (g/t) AuEq up

to 1.73 g/t AuEq utilizing a 0.5 g/t gold cutoff (Table 1). The potential quantity and grade is

conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it

is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.

The Lawyers Project holds three additional Exploration Target areas, including the Amethyst

Gold Breccia (AGB), Dukes Ridge and Phoenix zones. All zones lie within an extensive 10km2

alteration zone in the heart of the Lawyers Project, situated in the Stikine Terrane of northern

British Columbia, Canada, and falling within the prolific, mineral endowed ‘Golden Horseshoe’.

John Williamson, CEO commented, “The Cliff Creek Exploration Target is the most advanced

of the four target areas and all remain open in all directions. Drilling in 2019 indicates that the

AGB and Dukes Ridge exploration targets have similar characteristics and potential as the Cliff

Creek zone. Work in 2020 will be designed to develop the exploration targets toward a definitive

resource with future mining potential. Additional high-grade ounces can be targeted below the

near-surface mineralization. The Benchmark team has discovered new areas of parallel

mineralization and anticipates more new zones from expansion drilling that will uncover the bulk

tonnage aspects that were historically overlooked”.

The Exploration Target is based upon mineralization shapes that were constructed utilizing the

results of the 2018, 2019 and historic drilling for the Cliff Creek target area and by conducting

section by section geological and mineralization interpretation. The shapes were block modelled

and estimated for gold, silver and gold equivalent using standard statistical estimation treatments.

The estimation solids for Cliff Creek are intersected by a total of 41 holes completed in 2018 and

2019, which have been sampled for the most part in their entirety, 79 historic holes, of which 17

have been infill sampled during 2018 and 2019, along with 62 historic holes most of which have

only been partially sampled. The mineralization solids contain a total of 4,468 sampled intervals

representing 4,684 m of sampled drill hole core or chips. Capping analysis was conducted as part

of the estimation process and includes a cap of 8.1 g/t for gold and 650 g/t for silver in the

estimation that was conducted.

Table 1: Exploration Target*** – Tonnes and Grades

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*A silver to gold ratio of 80:1 has been used in the calculation of AuEq

**Total ounces may not add due to rounding.

***The tonnes, grade and ounces presented are an Exploration Target, and are conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to

define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. The Target has

not been evaluated for reasonable prospects for future economic extraction as metallurgical work and drilling are planned and ongoing.

The bulk tonnage Exploration Target ranges from 30.6 million tonnes to 34.7 million tonnes

with a range in grades of 1.71 g/t AuEq to 1.73 g/t AuEq at a lower cutoff of 0.5 g/t Au,

yielding an estimated range of 1,682,000 AuEq ounces to 1,924,000 AuEq ounces (Table 1).

The potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration

to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being

delineated as a mineral resource. The depth of this Target has been assessed using a variety of

lower Au cutoffs. At a lower cutoff of 0.2 g/t approximately 60% of the AuEq ounces are within

200m of surface and 86% of the AuEq ounces are within 300 m of surface. This increases to

63% and 90%, respectively using a lower Au cutoff of 0.5 g/t (Table 1). The Exploration Target

is reviewed at a range of lower Au cutoffs in Table 1. Range 1 treated unsampled intervals in the

estimate for the historic holes as being blank i.e. no assigned assay value. Range 2 treated the

unsampled intervals from the historic drilling as having an assigned grade of half the detection

limit. Tonnages of mineralized material that were removed during historic mining have not been

depleted from this exploration target. Based upon the historic records, the estimated tonnages

historically mined at Cliff Creek were on the order of 50,000 to 100,000 tonnes.

Au Cutoff

ppm

Tons Tonnes Avg Au

opt

Avg au

ppm

Au oz Avg Ag

opt

Avg ag

ppm

Ag oz Avg EQ

Au opt

Avg EQ

Au ppm

EQ Au oz

Range1

0 75,198,000 68,219,000 0.023 0.80 1,755,000 0.69 23.64 51,845,000 0.031 1.07 2,337,000

0.1 74,113,000 67,234,000 0.024 0.81 1,754,000 0.70 23.96 51,799,000 0.032 1.08 2,336,000

0.2 68,309,000 61,969,000 0.025 0.87 1,726,000 0.75 25.66 51,125,000 0.034 1.15 2,300,000

0.3 58,700,000 53,252,000 0.028 0.97 1,657,000 0.85 29.01 49,674,000 0.038 1.29 2,215,000

0.4 47,042,000 42,676,000 0.033 1.12 1,540,000 1.00 34.39 47,184,000 0.044 1.51 2,070,000

0.5 38,236,000 34,687,000 0.037 1.28 1,425,000 1.16 39.79 44,376,000 0.050 1.73 1,924,000

1 16,264,000 14,755,000 0.060 2.05 974,000 1.97 67.57 32,054,000 0.082 2.81 1,334,000

1.5 8,591,000 7,793,000 0.082 2.81 704,000 94.00 2.74 23,551,000 0.116 3.98 998,000

2 4,795,000 4,350,000 0.107 3.68 514,000 3.75 128.40 17,957,000 0.149 5.12 716,000

2.5 2,946,000 2,673,000 0.134 4.59 394,000 159.23 4.64 13,683,000 0.192 6.58 565,000

3 2,075,000 1,882,000 0.157 5.37 325,000 186.91 5.45 11,310,000 0.225 7.71 466,000

Range 2

0 75,198,000 68,219,000 0.021 0.71 1,566,000 0.62 21.09 46,258,000 0.028 0.95 2,085,000

0.1 68,645,000 62,273,000 0.023 0.78 1,558,000 0.67 23.01 46,077,000 0.030 1.04 2,076,000

0.2 60,678,000 55,046,000 0.025 0.86 1,521,000 0.74 25.49 45,104,000 0.033 1.15 2,027,000

0.3 52,439,000 47,572,000 0.028 0.96 1,461,000 0.83 28.57 43,700,000 0.037 1.28 1,952,000

0.4 42,051,000 38,148,000 0.032 1.11 1,355,000 0.99 33.79 41,442,000 0.043 1.48 1,820,000

0.5 33,756,000 30,623,000 0.037 1.27 1,246,000 1.15 39.45 38,841,000 0.050 1.71 1,682,000

1 13,794,000 12,514,000 0.061 2.08 837,000 1.99 68.19 27,436,000 0.083 2.85 1,145,000

1.5 7,260,000 6,586,000 0.084 2.87 607,000 95.83 2.80 20,293,000 0.115 3.94 835,000

2 4,030,000 3,656,000 0.111 3.79 446,000 3.80 130.29 15,314,000 0.153 5.26 618,000

2.5 2,570,000 2,332,000 0.137 4.69 351,000 160.88 4.69 12,061,000 0.189 6.49 487,000

3 1,832,000 1,662,000 0.160 5.48 293,000 188.18 5.49 10,053,000 0.221 7.59 405,000

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Within the bulk tonnage Exploration Target, there is a higher grade Exploration Target of 4.03

million tonnes to 4.8 million tonnes with a range of grades of 5.12 g/t AuEq to 5.26 g/t Au Eq

using a lower cutoff of 2 g/t, which yields an estimated 618,000 AuEq ounces to 716,000 AuEq

ounces (Table 1). The potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature. There has been

insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will

result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.

Cliff Creek was explored sporadically in the 1980’s and 1990’s while the Cheni Mine was

producing gold and silver primarily from the Amethyst Gold Breccia Zone (AGB). Success from

this exploration led to underground development at Cliff Creek, including a decline and six

levels with very little production. Similar to the rest of the Lawyers Project, Cliff Creek was

explored only intermittently after the closure of the Cheni Mine, until Benchmark initiated its

systematic, comprehensive and multi-faceted exploration programs in 2018 and 2019.

Figure 1: Plan view map of select exploration targets at the Lawyers Project outlining the size

and potential of the Cliff Creek, Duke’s Ridge and AGB zones.

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Figure 2: Long-section of the Cliff Creek and Cliff Creek South zones showing the potential to

connect the two into a large resource area with selected drill highlights from historical and

current exploration.

Benchmark is in the planning stages of a fully funded expanded scope of work 2020 exploration

program. The Program will focus on the definition and expansion of key exploration target areas

within a 10km2 radiometric anomaly, including exploration drilling at new or previously untested

occurrences. Cliff Creek will see drilling along its entire 1.2 km current strike length, as well as

north and south of the currently defined mineralization. Benchmark will provide a 2020 program

update at completion of drill planning.

Quality Assurance and Control

Results from samples were analyzed at ALS Global Laboratories (Geochemistry Division) in

Vancouver, Canada (an ISO 9001:2008 accredited facility). The sampling program was

undertaken by Company personnel under the direction of Rob L'Heureux, P.Geol. A secure chain

of custody is maintained in transporting and storing of all samples. Gold was assayed using a fire

assay with atomic emission spectrometry and gravimetric finish when required (+10 g/t Au).

Analysis by four acid digestion with 48 element ICP-MS analysis was conducted on all samples

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with silver and base metal over-limits being re-analyzed by atomic absorption or emission

spectrometry. Rock chip samples from outcrop/bedrock are selective by nature and may not be

representative of the mineralization hosted on the project.

It should be noted that the Cliff Creek Exploration Target has not been optimized or pit

constrained and may include ounces that have been mined. In addition, further drilling is planned

in 2020 in order to mitigate the effects of the unsampled historic intervals that intersect the Cliff

Creek mineralization solids and to provide material for critical metallurgical studies that are

currently ongoing. The potential quantity and grade of the exploration target is conceptual in

nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if

further exploration will result in the exploration target being delineated as a mineral resource.

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Michael Dufresne,

M.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Benchmark Metals Inc.

Benchmark is a Canadian mineral exploration company with its common shares listed for

trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, the OTCQB Venture Market in the United

States, and the Tradegate Exchange in Europe. Benchmark is managed by proven resource

sector professionals, who have a track record of advancing exploration projects from grassroots

scenarios through to production.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

s/ “John Williamson”

John Williamson, Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Jim Greig

Email: jimg@BNCHmetals.com

Telephone: +1 604 260 6977

NEITHER 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.

This news release may contain certain “forward looking statements”. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown

risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the

Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-

looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release and, except as may be required

by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether

as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.