Pretium Resources Inc.

Positive Valley of the Kings Mineral Reserve Update; Senior Management Changes

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec. 15, 2016) - Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX:PVG)(NYSE:PVG) ("Pretivm" or the "Company") is pleased to report a positive updated Valley of the Kings Mineral Reserve estimate for its Brucejack Project, where construction and development continues on schedule for commissioning of the underground mine in mid-2017. The Company also reports the appointment of Robert Quartermain to Executive Chair and Joseph Ovsenek as President and Chief Executive Officer effective January 1, 2017.

Updated Valley of the Kings Mineral Reserve Estimate and Mine Plan

Highlights of the updated Mineral Reserve estimate include:

• Proven Mineral Reserves in the Valley of the Kings increased to 1.6 million ounces gold (3.3 million tonnes grading 14.5 grams per tonne gold) which is sufficient for the first three years of mine life.
• Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves in the Valley of the Kings increased to 8.1 million ounces gold (15.6 million tonnes grading 16.1 grams per tonne gold).

Areas of gain in the Mineral Reserves are attributed to the following factors:

• Increasing drill density to 7.5-meter to 10-meter centers allowed for conversion of a significant amount of Probable Reserve to the Proven Reserve category. Mining stopes within the existing Mineral Reserve model along with expansion of the previous Indicated Mineral Resource wire frame accounted for an increase of approximately 620,000 ounces of gold.
• Several new, adjacent stopes were added to the previous mine plan as a result of the infill drilling reaching beyond the previously defined ore. This expansion to the mine plan accounts for an increase of approximately 300,000 ounces of gold.
• Adjustments were made to the stope orientation and design parameters, along with the addition of grade to the background mineralization for the estimate which had previously been modeled at zero grade. Estimating waste blocks within the stopes with the July 2016 Mineral Resource estimate grade accounts for an increase of approximately 200,000 ounces of gold.

The updated Mineral Reserve estimate is based on the July 2016 Mineral Resource estimate for the Valley of the Kings (see news release dated July 21, 2016). The July 2016 Mineral Resource estimate was updated based on the 2015-2016 Valley of the Kings infill drill program which consisted of 63,740 meters in 367 drillholes designed to target stope areas to be mined in the first three years of the current mine plan (1320-meter level to 1200-meter level). Table 1 below is a summary of the updated Valley of the Kings Mineral Reserve estimate.