New Pacific Announces Filing of Technical Report For the Silver Sand Project and Reports Financial Results For the Three and Nine Months Ended March 31, 2020

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Pacific Metals Corp. (“New Pacific” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: NUAG) (OTCQX: NUPMF) announces the filing of an independent Technical Report in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) on its 100% owned Silver Sand Deposit.  The Technical Report, titled “Silver Sand Deposit Mineral Resource Report” dated May 25, 2020 (effective date of January 16, 2020) has been prepared by AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd. (“AMC”), and is available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.  The Company also announces its unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial results for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2020.

This news release should be read in conjunction with the Company's management discussion & analysis and the financial statements and notes thereto for the corresponding period, which have been posted under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and are also available on the Company's website at www.newpacificmetals.com.  All figures are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.

SILVER SAND PROJECT

The Company has carried out extensive exploration and resource definition drill programs on its Silver Sand Project since acquisition in 2017.  In total the Company has completed 97,619m of drilling in 386 drill holes.  On April 14, 2020, the Company released the inaugural NI 43-101 Mineral Resource estimate for the Project:  Using a 45 g/t silver cut-off-grade the estimate reported Measured & Indicated resource tonnes of 35.39 Mt at 137 g/t Ag for 155.86 Moz and Inferred resource tonnes of 9.84 Mt at 112 g/t Ag for 35.55 Moz (see News Release dated April 14^th for details).  Highlights of the Resource Estimate are as follows:

• Mineralization starts at or near-surface and is amenable to potential open-pit mining extraction:  Approximately 70% of the resources are within 200 m of the conceptual open pit surface.
• Favourable initial metallurgical test work indicates laboratory-based recoveries of up to 97% for the various oxide – transition and sulphide mineral domains (see news release dated August 23, 2019 for details).
• Resource estimate excludes the recently discovered Snake Hole zone where drilling intercepted 72.4 m grading 279 g/t Ag (see news release dated January 13, 2020 for details).
• Mineralization remains open to the North and South and at depth. No feeder zones or source intrusions have been discovered to date. 

During the first quarter of 2020 the Company’s field operations were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Company took immediate steps to protect the health and safety of its employees and to ensure full compliance with the applicable rules and recommendations.  During this period, the Company developed and implemented protocols to protect its workforce and is continuing to provide assistance to the communities neighbouring the Project by donating medical, hygiene and food supplies as part of our ongoing social responsibility program.  The 2020 drill campaign was suspended in  late March and the Project placed on care and maintenance. A total of 2,388m of drilling had been completed at Silver Sand during the quarter prior to the suspension. Field operations are expected to resume following receipt of authorization from the government of Bolivia.