African Queen Mines Concludes Agreement with Norris for Placer Mining Operations at Yellowjacket Gold Mine

Vancouver, British Columbia / TheNewswire / February 16, 2016 -- African Queen Mines Ltd. (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has concluded a five-year placer mining agreement (the "Agreement") with Mr. Matt Norris of Delta, B.C. and his corporate affiliates (collectively, "Norris"), under which the Company has leased to Norris for a term of five years placer mining rights to an area of approximately 466.15 hectares of its Yellowjacket Gold Project (the "Project") license area, which aggregates approximately 79.56 sq. km. of strategic ground 9 km East of Atlin, B.C. in the historic Pine Creek Valley, which has been the site of continuing mining operations for over a century. Placer mining operations under the Agreement are anticipated to commence on site in or about May, 2016, starting with test mining operations which are planned to expand on a result contingent basis. The Company is retaining all rights to explore, develop and exploit the hard-rock gold deposits at the Project, which have also been the subject of prior mining operations and yielded bonanza-grade drill results in the past. The aggregate investment in the Project to date by predecessors is in the range of $20 Million.

The Agreement is a five-year deal with an Initial Term of one year for 2016 and four successive one-year options. Exercise of each subsequent option is contingent on meeting certain production and/or payment thresholds during the prior production year. The Company is to be paid a 10 Percent Gross Royalty on all gold produced under the Agreement on a monthly basis and Norris is responsible for paying all costs of his mining operations, including permitting, environmental compliance and remediation, operations, etc. Norris is also required to make a sizeable initial expenditure for plant, equipment, supplies and other costs related to start-up of his placer operations; this initial outlay has already been committed and equipment is on order. Norris' operations are confined to the placer deposits on the area covered by the Agreement and may not intrude further than one metre into the bedrock. Norris has already completed a number of successful tests on the area to be mined and is committed to moving forward as expeditiously as possible.

Norris is a highly experienced professional contractor in the mining exploration industry, who has conducted successful placer mining operations in the past and has considerable familiarity with the Atlin, B.C. area. He has owned and managed three successful drilling companies providing contract drilling services across Canada as well as being the first western driller to set up operations in Mongolia. He recently set up and managed a successful placer gold mining operation in the Amaar region of Tov Province, approximately 210 km. from Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

According to Irwin Olian, CEO of the Company, "We are very gratified to be working with Matt Norris on the placer mining deposits at Yellowjacket. His experience, professionalism and integrity will be invaluable in advancing the Project, both from the standpoint of generating valuable cash flow to the Company from placer mining as well as assisting in our hard-rock exploration efforts through a continual dialogue and sharing of information from his placer findings. We are looking forward to working with Matt and expect this relationship to develop into a win-win for all concerned."

About African Queen

The Company is an exploratory resource company engaged in exploration and development of mineral properties in Canada and Africa. It is presently focusing on development of its Yellowjacket Gold Project in Atlin, British Columbia, which covers an aggregate of approximately 79.56 sq. km. The Company has its executive offices in Vancouver, Canada. The Company was incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia, Canada on April 30, 2008, and received certain southern African assets in a spin off transaction related to the acquisition of Pan African Mining Corp. by Asia Thai Mining Co., Ltd.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
AFRICAN QUEEN MINES, LTD.

"Irwin Olian"
Irwin Olian
Chairman & CEO

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The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of the information contained herein. The statements made in this press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ from the Company's expectations.

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