Toronto, Ontario - (May 25, 2016) Argonaut Gold Inc. (TSX:AR) (the “Company”, “Argonaut Gold” or “Argonaut”) today provides an update on planned activities at its 100% owned Magino property. The Company plans to drill the mineral resources expected to be mined during the first two years of mine life on 10 to 12 metre centres in order to increase the confidence during the potential payback period of the project. Argonaut also intends to advance permitting over the next 12 to 15 months.

Pete Dougherty, President and CEO stated: “We view drilling out the first phase of the projected pit a substantial de-risking of the Magino project. At the same time, we will move forward with permitting at Magino to further de-risk the project.”

Private Placement Financing of Flow-Through Common Shares

In connection with the planned activities at Magino, the Company is pleased to announce that it has issued 1,280,000 flow-through common shares (“Flow-Through Shares”) on a private placement basis at a price of C$3.55 per Flow-Through Share (the “Offering”), representing a 24.5% premium from the date of pricing on May 9, 2016, for aggregate gross proceeds of C$4,544,000.

Closing of the private placement occurred on May 25, 2016. The Flow-Through Shares were sold through a syndicate of Agents led by GMP Securities L.P. and including Desjardins Securities Inc.

The gross proceeds from the sale of the Flow-Through Shares will be used to fund Canadian exploration expenses (within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada)), that will qualify as “flow-through mining expenditures”, as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Income Tax Act (Canada), and “eligible Ontario exploration expenditures”, as defined in the Taxation Act, 2007 (Ontario) at Argonaut’s 100% owned Magino property in Ontario.

The Flow-Through Shares issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a hold period of four months and one day in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.