A Large New Gold Belt at the Kahuna Diamond Project

January 31, 2017 – Vancouver, BC, Canada. – Dunnedin Ventures Inc. (the “Company” or “Dunnedin”) (TSX-V: DVI) is pleased to report the identification of a large gold-bearing greenstone belt at the Kahuna project.  High gold-in-till counts including pristine gold grains suggesting local bedrock sources of gold are present along a sampled length of over 40 kilometres immediately adjacent to Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.’s (TSE: AEM, “Agnico”) development-stage Meliadine gold project.

Figure 1: Gold grain counts across the Kahuna project based on historical till sampling and recent work by Dunnedin. Gold-in-till results are also provided for the Meliadine project based on publicly available information released by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). There is a strong association between gold-in-tills and bedrock gold zones at Meliadine.

Chris Taylor, Dunnedin’s CEO, said, “We have identified a large gold-mineralized belt tying onto Agnico’s Meliadine gold trend.  Results suggest gold is preferentially associated with internal fold hinges within the belt.  This pattern is observed at Meliadine, and points to several targets requiring follow up till sampling and drilling at Kahuna.  The area is known for hosting large, high grade gold deposits at the Meliadine project, and we are very encouraged that gold is confirmed to be associated with multiple belts across Kahuna.”

Details of Current Gold-in-Till Results

• Data was acquired through a purchase announced on December 14, 2016
• Disclosed results are from 347 till samples collected adjacent to the Meliadine property
• Results are from a reconnaissance scale till sampling program with average sample spacing of over 1 kilometre, designed to test a broad area for gold
• Average of 7.8 gold grains per sample, with a maximum value of 83 grains
• Pristine gold grains observed in 114 of 347 samples, with a maximum value of 21 pristine grains, suggesting proximal bedrock sources to 33% of samples
• Spatial association between gold concentration in till samples and proximity to fold hinges as delineated through geophysics
• Gold noted in 316 of 347 (91%) of samples

Locally sourced coarse gold was also confirmed through till sampling by Dunnedin at the main fold hinge of this belt in the vicinity of the PST and Notch diamond-bearing kimberlites, as shown in Figure 2.  The glacial transport direction and lack of grain modification point to sources at the Kahuna project rather than Meliadine, as disclosed by Dunnedin on October 17, 2016.  With its folded geometry, the new belt has an aggregate strike length of approximately 42 kilometres at Kahuna.

Figure 2: Example images of coarse gold grains collected from till samples by Dunnedin during diamond exploration, field of view is approximately 2 mm.

Additional Gold Results

The newly defined greenstone belt has not yet been drilled; gold results described below are from additional gold-mineralized metasediment belts at Kahuna.Four additional gold-bearing belts have been confirmed at the project to date through historical drilling and bedrock and till sampling, as described below and on Figure 1.

Gold encountered in historic drilling was largely incidental during diamond exploration, however six drill holes were assayed for gold and returned values as shown in Table 1.  Not all prospective drill intervals showing sulphide mineralization were assayed, however results are sufficient to confirm the presence of gold in bedrock of similar style to that observed at Meliadine.  Visible gold was noted in one of six drill holes at Kahuna and is also observed at Meliadine.

Table 1: Historic gold results from diamond exploration drill holes

*width of the sample represents core length and not true width.  Historical drill hole results were obtained from various SEDAR filings of news releases and reports by past explorers including the Hunter Exploration Group. 

97 rock samples collected across the property also returned between 0.05 and 2.52 g/t gold.  Till sampling confirmed gold-in-tills adjacent to areas with gold-in-bedrock samples, and in other areas.  Gold has been mapped as being associated with magnetically responsive formations that have been described as metasediment belts and regionally significant, deep seated shear zones.

84 of 129 (65%) till samples collected by Dunnedin in 2015 also returned gold results through neutron activation analysis of heavy mineral concentrates collected during diamond exploration, with subsequent confirmation of gold grains as shown in Figure 2.

Upcoming Gold Results

Over 1,100 till samples collected in summer 2016 across 600 square kilometres of the 1,200 square kilometre Kahuna project are being processed for diamond indicator mineral content and gold grain content at CF Mineral Research Ltd. in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Dunnedin plans to pursue further gold exploration through a spinout company as announced on November 23, 2016 and is currently finalizing plans related to this announcement.

Note on Adjacent Gold Projects

Agnico’s Meliadine project has approximately 14.5 million tonnes of Proven and Probable Reserves grading 7.32 g/t gold, containing 3.4 million ounces of gold as of December 31, 2015.   There is an additional Indicated Resource of 20.7 million tonnes grading 4.95 g/t gold containing 3.3 million ounces of gold, and an additional Inferred Resource of 14.7 million tonnes grading 7.51 g/t gold containing 3.5 million ounces of gold (source: www.agnicoeagle.com).

NxGold Ltd. (TSX-V: NXN) is exploring the Peter Lake project, also adjacent to Meliadine, and recently announced a $35+ million earn-in deal for a 70% interest in a 8,473 hectare (85 square kilometre) land package, and raised $4.9 million for exploration in the area.

Mr. R. Bob Singh, P.Geo, Exploration Manager, is the qualified person responsible for the technical content of this news release.

For further information please contact Mr. Knox Henderson, Investor Relations, at 604-551-2360.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Dunnedin Ventures Inc.

Chris Taylor

Chief Executive Officer

About the Kahuna Project

Kahuna is an advanced stage high grade diamond project located near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.  Dunnedin is now recovering diamonds and indicator minerals from a series of kimberlite and till samples collected during two seasons of field work.  An Inferred Resource released by Dunnedin showed over 4 million carats of macrodiamonds (+0.85 mm) at a grade of 1.01 carats per tonne had been defined along the partial strike length of the Kahuna and Notch kimberlite dikes through shallow drilling.  The largest diamond recovered was a 5.43 carat stone from the Kahuna dike which was a piece of a larger diamond that had been broken during the sample preparation process and was reconstructed as having an original size of 13.42 carats.  Recent results include a 0.82 tonne sample of the PST kimberlite dike which returned 96 macrodiamonds totalling 5.34 carats (+0.85 mm) and a 2.36 tonne sample of the Notch kimberlite which returned 89 macrodiamonds totalling 2.38 carats (+0.85 mm).  The Kahuna project is located adjacent to the development-stage Meliadine gold project of Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd and also hosts gold mineralization in metasedimentary units including a recently defined greenstone belt with over 40 kilometres of strike length that is associated with elevated gold-in-till results.

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.

Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, “forward-looking statements”.  Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “expects” and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company’s future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.