Southern Empire Completes its Acquisition of the Oro Cruz Project

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 21, 2023 / Southern Empire Resources Corp. (Southern Empire; TSX-V:SMP; Frankfurt:5RE; OTCQB:SMPEF) announces that it has earned a 100% interest in the Oro Cruz Project, located in southeastern California, after making a final option payment and fulfilling all requisite exploration work obligations.

"Our past-producing Oro Cruz property holds significant exploration opportunities and now that Southern Empire has earned a 100% interest we are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the permitting process, which will allow us to move forward with an aggressive exploration program later this year targeting high-grade, oxide gold," said Dale Wallster, CEO of Southern Empire.

About the Oro Cruz Project

The Oro Cruz Project covers approximately 2,160 hectares (~5,338 acres) of the Cargo Muchacho mountains in Imperial County, California, and is located about 22.5 kilometers (~14 miles) southeast of Equinox Gold Corp.'s Mesquite mine, which produced its five millionth ounce of gold in July 2022.

The Oro Cruz Project covers many prospective gold exploration targets, including the American Girl, Padre y Madre, Queen, and Cross oxide gold deposits that were previously explored and mined by the American Girl Mining Joint Venture (AGMJV) between 1987 and 1996. AGMJV recovered gold by heap leaching of lower-grade ores or milling of higher-grade ores until operations ceased in 1996 due to declining gold prices.

As reported in 2011 by Lincoln Mining Corp., the Oro Cruz Project hosts a historical inferred mineral resource estimate of 341,800 ounces of gold based on 4,386,000 tonnes averaging 2.2 grams gold per tonne (g Au /t) at a cut-off grade of 0.68 g Au/t (4,835,000 tons at 0.07 ounce gold per ton; please refer to the Cautionary Notice Regarding the Oro Cruz Property Historical Resource Estimate below).

Qualified Person (QP)

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been prepared, reviewed and approved by David Tupper, P.Geo. (British Columbia), Southern Empire's VP Exploration and a Qualified Person within the context of Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101; Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).

About Southern Empire Resources Corp.

Southern Empire is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of metals and minerals deposits in North America.

In the Cargo Muchacho mountains of Imperial County, California, Southern Empire owns 100 percent of the historical gold-producing American Girl mine patented claims and a 100 percent interest in the adjacent 2,160-hectare (5,338-acre) Oro Cruz Property located approximately 22.5 kilometres (14 miles) southeast of the operating Mesquite gold mine of Equinox Gold Corp.