ESSEX MINERALS INC. Vancouver, British Columbia DRILLING COMMENCES AT KNX AUSTRALIAN GOLD-SILVER JV PROPERTY

Not for Distribution in the United States or dissemination through a U.S. newswire service

July 28, 2020 – Vancouver, BC – Essex Minerals Inc. (the “Company”) (TSX-V: ESX) announces that an initial four-hole diamond drilling program has commenced at the Cumberland property, 30 km southwest of Georgetown, North Queensland.

The Cumberland property comprises four granted exploration permits covering 25,024ha, 70 km northwest of the former 3.5 million-ounce Kidston gold mine. The property has the potential to host high-grade epithermal gold-silver mineralisation and is currently held 80% by KNX and 20% by another Australian private company, AMD Resources Ltd.

Under the terms of the venture, Essex has the right to earn an initial First Stage Earn-in of 50% of KNX’s interest in three properties prospective for epithermal precious metals and porphyry style mineralisation – Cumberland, Compass Creek and Mt Turner - by spending AUD $1,000,000 on exploration by May 2021. At the end of the First Stage Earn-in, Essex may elect to acquire all the shares in KNX at independent valuation or earn an additional 25% interest in Mt Turner and 20% interest in Cumberland and Compass Creek by funding a further AUD $3,000,000 on exploration.

Since signing the agreement with KNX in May 2020, Essex has funded an in-fill soil sampling program and established pre-drilling infra-structure and logistics at Cumberland, flown a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) program at Mt Turner, and lodged an application for an additional exploration license adjoining to the west of the Mt Turner license.

The Cumberland property contains six prospects which show characteristics of poly-metallic, low sulfidation, epithermal mineralization. From within these prospects, the initial four-hole diamond drilling program has commenced on the RBZ prospect, a major 2.5km northwest trending structural corridor dislocated by conjugate northeast structures which have created a number of dilation centres. The dilation centres have been intruded by a series of Permo-Carboniferous, poly-phase intrusives culminating in late stage altered rhyolites. The centres have then been overprinted with surface mineralization consisting of hydrothermal breccias associated with multi-phase quartz-adularia silver and gold mineralization as disrupted ginguro bands in the north, and higher temperature veining 2km to the south.

Soil and rock chip sampling by KNX, and in-fill soil sampling funded by Essex, has outlined continuous gold and silver anomalies which spatially correspond to these dilation zones. Rock chip sampling at 50m intervals conducted in 2015 by KNX at RBZ North (Rob’s Vein) averaged 2.1g/t Au and 379g/t Ag. This zone has been measured at 40m wide in the thickest zone, narrowing to 1.5m in the south and can be traced on the surface for 600m. Further south the mineralization is covered by young alluvium. High-grade surface gold and silver (up to 5.48 g/t Au and 12,650 g/t Ag) have been sampled at RBZ South (2km to the south of Rob’s Vein) associated with narrow, sub-crop zones of silicified breccia. Sporadic, colonial-era shallow workings have been observed in the southern RBZ.

The initial four holes totaling approximately 800m are designed to test RBZ’s potential to host economic mineralization and provide important structural, lithological and alteration information for the design and orientation of any follow-up drilling.

About Essex

Essex Minerals is an exploration and development company focused on mineral exploration and development opportunities where it can adopt an option earn-in and joint venture model without the issuance of vendor shares. By identifying geological teams that have already expended the time and capital to assemble top quality, advanced projects, with a particular emphasis on gold projects in Tier 1 jurisdictions. Management’s time is shared across several different projects, as the geological teams already in place will be managing the approved exploration and development programmes.  This strategy has the potential to accelerate the growth in shareholder value for Essex by earning an interest in a range of projects of merit in a much shorter time frame than otherwise would be possible.

Competent Person

All of the scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and/or prepared by Mr Lee K. Spencer, BSc (Hons), MSc, MAusIMM, a “Qualified Person” within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Minerals Projects.

Paul Loudon CEO & Director

For further information please contact:

Harbor Access LLC

Graham Farrell email: [email protected] Tel: +1 (647) 530 1430 Jonathan Paterson email: [email protected] Tel: +1 (203) 202 2028

www.essexminerals.com

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The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined under the U.S. Securities Act) absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.