Vancouver, BC (January 19, 2022) Skeena Resources Limited (TSX: SKE, NYSE: SKE) (“Skeena” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the discovery of a significant zone of near surface, footwall style mineralization, the 23 Zone. This new zone is outside the limits of the Company’s current pit-constrained mineral resources at the Eskay Creek gold-silver project (“Eskay Creek” or the “Project”) located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia. Analytical results from the recently completed drill holes are detailed in this release. Reference images are presented at the end of this release as well as on the Company’s website.
 
New 23 Zone Discovery Highlights:

• 0.99 g/t Au, 6.5 g/t Ag (1.08 g/t AuEq) over 90.00 m (SK-21-945)
• 1.30 g/t Au, 31.4 g/t Ag (1.72 g/t AuEq) over 43.39 m (SK-21-946)
• 2.14 g/t Au, 14.6 g/t Ag (2.33 g/t AuEq) over 59.91 m (SK-21-947)

Gold Equivalent (AuEq) calculated via the formula: Au (g/t) + [Ag (g/t) / 75]. True widths and zone geometries cannot be definitively determined at this time. Grade-capping of individual assays has not been applied to the Au and Ag assays informing the length-weighted AuEq composites. Metallurgical processing recoveries have not been applied to the AuEq calculation and are taken at 100%. Samples below detection limit were nulled to a value of zero.

New 23 Zone Discovered Outside Current Resources
Situated beyond the extents of the currently defined pit-constrained resources at Eskay Creek, the Company has discovered a new zone of near surface Au-Ag mineralization beginning only 15 m vertically below surface. This new 23 Zone was revealed by Q4 2021 drilling as part of the ongoing regional exploration program.

Positioned 200 m east of the high-grade 21A Zone, the area was historically drilled from surface by previous operators on widely spaced drill centers. Selective drill hole sampling during this era meant that the discovery of the larger and more robust mineralized widths observed as a result of the 2021 drilling program, were missed historically. This lack of non-continuous historical sampling is evidenced by 2021 drill hole SK-21-947 which intersected 2.14 g/t Au, 14.6 g/t Ag (2.33 g/t AuEq) over 59.91 m only metres away from historical 1990 drill hole CA90-511 which due to non-continuous sampling only reported 1.97 g/t AuEq and 0.84 g/t AuEq over 2.00 and 8.00 m, respectively.

Mineralization in the 23 Zone is almost exclusively hosted within dacitic volcanic rocks and to a lesser degree, the overlying Lower Mudstone unit. As such, the Au-Ag tenor is consistent with that observed in footwall mineralization elsewhere on the property (21A, 21B, 21C, 22 Zones). Concentrations of the epithermal suite of elements (As, Hg, Sb) are negligible, as is the case with this style of footwall mineralization across Eskay Creek.

Drilling to date indicates a shallow, westerly dipping geometry and the 23 Zone remains open for expansion in all directions. Proximity to surface, in addition to the grades and widths of this evolving zone are a perfect complement to the existing mine plan and potential throughput expansion.

22 Zone and Eastern Limb Targets
Drilling along the southeastern strike extension of the 22 Zone was performed on 50 m spacings. Most notably, 2021 drill hole SK-21-927 intersected 3.39 g/t Au, 4.8 g/t Ag (3.45 g/t AuEq) over 21.55 m in the Even Lower Mudstone (ELM) approximately 200 metres southeast of the 22 Zone. This broader interval included a visible gold bearing subinterval grading 59.10 g/t Au, 61.5 g/t Ag (59.92 g/t AuEq) over 0.65 m and 19.55 g/t Au, 7.4 g/t Ag (19.65 g/t AuEq) over 0.95 m.

Gold in soil anomalies supported by geological considerations were targeted by nine drill holes on the eastern limb of the property. Despite intersecting highly altered host rocks, no significant grades were returned in these specific locations.

Current Status – Exploration
The regional exploration drilling program was designed to pragmatically test near surface targets across the property with the goal of delineating additional near surface resources to supplement the existing mine plan. To date, 72 drill holes totaling 12,890 m have been completed representing ~37% of the budgeted 35,000 m drill program. The outstanding meterage will be drilled once the Albino Waste Facility drill program has been completed in Q2 2022.

About Skeena
Skeena Resources Limited is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on revitalizing the past-producing Eskay Creek gold-silver mine located in Tahltan Territory in the Golden Triangle of northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company released a Prefeasibility Study for Eskay Creek in July 2021 which highlights an open-pit average grade of 4.57 g/t AuEq, an after-tax NPV5% of C$1.4B, 56% IRR, and a 1.4-year payback at US$1,550/oz Au. Skeena is currently completing both infill and exploration drilling to advance Eskay Creek to full Feasibility Study in Q1 2022.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited,

Walter Coles Jr.
President & CEO

Contact Information
Investor Inquiries: info@skeenaresources.com
Office Phone: +1 604 684 8725
Company Website: www.skeenaresources.com