MacDonald Mines Files 43-101 Technical Report for Its Wawa-Holdsworth Project

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 21, 2016) - MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:BMK) ("MacDonald Mines", or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has filed a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") technical report on the Wawa-Holdsworth Project (the "Technical Report") under its profile on www.SEDAR.com. The Technical Report was commissioned by the Company, following an option agreement dated December 7, 2016 between Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. ("Noble Mineral") and MacDonald Mines. For further information, please see the press release of the Company dated December 8, 2016.

Quentin Yarie P. Geo, the President and CEO and a serving board member of MacDonald Mines, prepared the report on behalf of the Company.

The technical report is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.macdonaldmines.com

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:

Historic work by previous operators defined three gold targets on the Wawa-Holdsworth Project:

• Lode Gold in traditional quartz veins, known as the "The Soocana Vein",
• an oxidized cap at surface developed over a massive pyrite zone (Algoma Iron Formation) known as the "The Oxide Sands", and
• the precursor to the Oxide Sands - a massive pyrite zone (Algoma Iron Formation) at depths, known as "The Massive Sulphide".

Based on the review of historic data available for the Property, the report concludes that there is potential to find additional gold mineralization and that additional exploration is warranted. Readers are cautioned that a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify any historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and there are no current mineral resources or mineral reserves (within the meaning of such terms in NI 43-101) associated with the Wawa-Holdsworth Project. The summary of the Technical Report in this press release is qualified in its entirety by the full text of the report which is available on www.SEDAR.com.

Wawa-Holdsworth Project Details

The Project comprised of 18 contiguous patented mining claims covering approximately 285 hectares is located 3 kilometres north of the town of Hawk Junction (20 kilometres northeast of the town of Wawa) in the Corbiere and Esquega Townships of Northern Ontario. The property has year-long road access as well as easy access to other infrastructure including rail, road, electrical power, labour force and suppliers.

Qualified Person

Quentin Yarie, P Geo. is the qualified person responsible for preparing, supervising and approving the scientific and technical content of this news release.

About MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd.

MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. is a mineral exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Previously focused on Copper and Zinc (VMS), and Nickel exploration in the Ring of Fire area of the James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario, the company continues to focus its efforts and finances on projects that demonstrate the greatest market potential for return.

On December 7, 2016, MacDonald Mines entered an Option and Joint Venture Agreement ("the Option Agreement") with Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. to advance exploration on Noble's Wawa-Holdsworth Gold and Silver Project. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Option Agreement, MacDonald Mines will have the right to earn up to an undivided 75% interest in the Project, comprising of a first option to earn a 51% base interest and a second option to earn an additional 24% interest. Also, MacDonald Mines will be the operator of the Project.

The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "BMK".

To learn more about MacDonald Mines, please visit www.macdonaldmines.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This News Release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.