South Darlot Gold Project: Endeavour RC Drilling Programme

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Table 1

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Central Iron Ore Ltd. (CIO – TSX.V) (“CIO” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce results from the December 2022 RC drilling programme at its Endeavour prospect at the South Darlot Gold Project.

Mermaid Highlights

• 22ENRC014:        5 meters @ 11.93 g/t Au from 66 metres; including 1m @ 38.8 g/t Au
• 22ENRC015:        1 meter @ 12.00 g/t Au from 74 metres
• 22ENRC017:        6 meters @ 49.30 g/t Au from 42 metres; including 2m @ 116 g/t Au
• 22ENRC018:        3 meters @ 4.20 g/t Au from 13 metres

Endeavour RC Drilling

CIO completed an 18-hole RC drilling programme for 1,060 metres at the Endeavour prospect from 24^th of November to the 2^nd of December 2022 on mining licence M 37/631. The programme was designed to test for mineralised extensions down dip and to the immediate west of the Endeavour deposit, with a further two holes drilled within the known resource to obtain samples for metallurgical test work.

Gold mineralisation at Endeavour is associated within a 1 to 2 meter (Figure 1 & Figure 2) wide laminated quartz vein, the Endeavour Vein, which contains minor accessory sulphides including pyrite and traces of galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite. The vein is hosted within an intermediate volcanic sequence. A super-high-grade domain exists at vertical depths of between 20 to 45 meters. At this depth there is a sharp, 5 to 10-fold increase in gold metal coinciding with the transition from complete to partial oxidation of the host rock. In this domain, iron oxides and traces of chalcocite and covellite also exist.

Figure 1 Gold mineralisation associated with the narrow quartz vein in 22ENRC017, with some bleeding of grade into the footwall intermediate volcanic.

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Figure 2 The Endeavour Vein as seen in RC cuttings from drillhole 22ENRC014. Note the significant footwall grade and lack of quartz veining in the chips.

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The results of the drilling program at Endeavour have been largely positive, however, the drilling has definitively closed-off mineralisation to the west. The drilling established further down plunge extensions of the Endeavour quartz vein with 22ENRC015 intersecting 1 meter at 12 g/t Au from 74 metres down hole and 5 meters at 11.93 g/t Au in 22ENRC014 from 66 metres down hole. The other two holes (22ENRC017 and 018) were primarily drilled to collect RC chips (oxide and transitional) for metallurgical test work in preparation for mining.

Figure 3 Pierce-point long section updated with recent drilling program (recent drilling highlighted in red)

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Figure 4 Cross section through the Endeavour deposit.

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Table 1 Drill hole details and significant intersections from the 2023 Endeavour RC drill programme.

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Mining Studies

CIO have commissioned a suite of studies required to meet Western Australia Department of Mining Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) requirements to commence open pit mining at Endeavour. These studies include waste rock characterisation, a hydrogeological and a metallurgical programme. Two PQ diamond core holes have been designed and will be drilled to enable collection of approximately 60 Kg of core for comminution test work. These holes will be drilled in February 2023.

CENTRAL IRON ORE LIMITED

SOUTH DARLOT GOLD PROJECT (Western Australia)

The Company’s South Darlot Gold Project area is located approximately 320km northwest of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and includes:

• The British King Mine has now reverted to 100% beneficial ownership by the Company which is National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI43-101”) compliant. The British King Mine is 5km southwest of Red 5 Limited’s Darlot Mine. The British King Mine is currently in care and maintenance. CIO is registered on title for 49% and has received signed transfer forms from BK Gold Mines Pty Limited to Central Iron Ore Limited for the transfer of a further 51% interest as agreed.
• The registration of unencumbered title of that 51% interest is being delayed by Silverstream SE22, who provided funding to BK Gold Mines Pty Limited to fund their acquisition under the Tenement Acquisition Agreement. Silverstream SE22 has refused to remove the caveats which prevents registration of the transfers. CIO has commenced action in the Supreme Court of Western Australia to have the caveats removed.
• A number of tenements which are subject to a joint venture with subsidiaries of Red 5 Limited (“Red 5”), details of which are set out below, in which CIO has earned a 70% interest.

Figure 5 Locality map of the South Darlot project.

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RED 5 JV Project (Formerly Barrick Joint Venture Project)

The tenements set out in the table below (“Red 5 JV Tenements”) are the subject of a joint venture between a fully owned subsidiary of the Company and subsidiaries of Red 5 Limited (“Red 5 JV”) and are situated southwest of Red 5’s Darlot gold mine and are contiguous with CIO’s current holdings in the area. The Red 5 JV Tenements are detailed below.

Table 2 List of South Darlot tenements

QUALIFIED PERSON

Mr Andrew Bewsher who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and has compiled the information within this report relating to soil geochemical distributions. Mr Bewsher has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity currently being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in NI 43-101.

On behalf of the Board of Directors
CENTRAL IRON ORE LTD.

“David Deitz”
____________________________
David Deitz, CEO

For further information, please contact:
www.centralironorelimited.com

Investor and Media Inquiries:
Direct: +61 2 9397 7555

Email:info@centralironore.com

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 release.

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Although the Company believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company’s equity securities, the state of the market for iron ore or other minerals that may be produced generally, recent market volatility; variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company’s ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies and other risks associated with the exploration and development of mineral properties. The reader is referred to the Company’s disclosure documents for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through the Company’s page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com