Gatling Drills 170.0 m of 1.5 g/t Au from Near Surface; Proves Growing Continuity and Strength of Mineralization at Larder Gold Project, Ontario

VANCOUVER, February 16, 2021 - Gatling Exploration Inc. (TSXV:GTR)(OTCQB:GATGF) (the "Company" or "Gatling) is pleased to announce that drilling at its Larder gold project in Ontario has intersected increased continuity and grade with 170.0 m of 1.5 g/t Au starting just 31 m from surface. Hole GTR-20-089 was drilled on Zone 2 of the Fernland deposit and follows Gatling's recent success 400 m west at Zone 1, where drilling hit 101.3 m of 1.1 g/t Au from near surface. The Company will continue with its current focus on near surface gold mineralization by testing Zone 3 at Fernland - one of three gold deposits along a 4.5 km trend at the Larder project that hosts high-grade mineralization at depth and widespread mineralization near surface.

Jason Billan, President and CEO for Gatling, commented, "This second round of drill results in our ongoing 25,000 m program are led by highlight hole GTR-20-089, which matched the highest metal factor ever hit since the inception of Gatling. Furthermore, our exploration team has demonstrated impressive, near-surface continuity for the first time at Larder. The Fernland deposit will be the focus for just over half of the current drill program, before we deliver an initial resource estimate at Fernland along with a resource update at Cheminis and Bear (due out in H2)."

News Highlights

• Rapidly Increasing Continuity of Gold Mineralization at Fernland Deposit. Fernland is the most under explored of the deposits at Larder. Drilling continues to prove that the gold system is far more extensive than prior operators believed and includes an impressive near surface component. Drilling at Zone 2 has hit 170.0 m of 1.5 g/t Au starting 31 m from surface in hole GTR-20-089. The hole is approximately 400 meters away from hole GTR-20-088 at Zone 1, which intersected 101.3 m of 1.1 g/t Au in (Figure 1 to 4), also starting near surface.
• Widespread results include significant high-grade intervals and potential for increased grades at depth. Results from hole GTR-20-089 also returned sections as high as 8.6 g/t Au over 3.0 m, indicating that there is still a deeper source of gold mineralization to be explored down plunge, which in this case is South-Easterly.
• High Percentage of Gold Mineralization is above Regional Open Pit Cut-Off. Mineralization has displayed significant gold grades above the regional open pit cut-off of 0.3 g/t Au. Of the 170 m of intersected gold mineralization, 128 m (75%) was above 0.3 g/t Au, demonstrating the best continuity to date for Gatling. Additionally, some higher grade zones indicate the presence of oblique plunging gold chutes, which may play a vital role in exploring the deposit at depth.
• Zone Definition at Fernland Indicates Robust Continuity and Thickness. The Fernland deposit has 3 distinct zones. Gatling has now demonstrated a thickness up to 13.0 m at 2.0 g/t Au and a continuity of 170.0 m at 1.5 g/t Au at Zone 2. Drilling previously at Zone 1 displayed thicknesses up to 35.0 m and over 100 m in gold continuity. These results continue to reveal the excellent grade distribution, size, and vast potential of the near surface gold mineralization at the Fernland deposit.

Table 1. Drill Hole Highlights

Figure 1. Larder project long section showing the new gold mineralized zones identified from recent drill results and target areas for the 2021 drill campaign.

Figure 2. Geological plan map of the newly defined zones at the Fernland Deposit with multiple mineralized lenses at each zone and recent drill hole traces.

Figure 3. Level plan showing multiple gold zones and gold mineralization from surface down to 100 m below surface at the Fernland deposit.

Figure 4. Fernland long section showing the location of recent drill results, new mineralized zones, and gold contours connecting Fernland mineralization with Cheminis.

About Gatling Exploration

Gatling Exploration is a Canadian gold exploration company focused on advancing the Larder Gold Project, located in the prolific Abitibi greenstone belt in Northern Ontario. The Larder property hosts three high-grade gold deposits along the Cadillac-Larder Lake Break, 35 km east of Kirkland Lake. The project is 100% controlled by Gatling and is comprised of patented and unpatented claims, leases and mining licenses of occupation within the McVittie and McGarry Townships. The 3,370 ha project area is positioned 7 km west of the Kerr Addison Mine, which produced 11 million ounces of gold. All parts of the Larder property are accessible by truck or all-terrain vehicles on non-serviced roads and trails.

QA/QC

Drill core is logged and sampled at the Larder Gold project site. Core samples from the program are cut in half, using a diamond cutting saw with half sent for assay at SGS lab in Cochrane, Ontario. The other half is secured and retained on site. All samples are analyzed for gold using standard Fire Assay-AA techniques. Samples returning greater than 5.0 g/t gold are analyzed utilizing standard Fire Assay-Gravimetric methods. Certified reference standards and blanks are routinely inserted into the sample stream as part of Gatling's quality control/quality assurance program.

Qualified Person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Nathan Tribble, P. Geo., VP Exploration of Gatling Exploration, and a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,

Jason Billan, President and CEO

Gatling Exploration Inc.

For further information on Gatling, contact Investor Relations:

Telephone: 1-888-316-1050
Email: ir@gatlingexploration.com

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.

Forward Looking Statements: Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainness and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

SOURCE: Gatling Exploration Inc.