Vista Gold Corp. Provides Update on the Mt Todd Gold Project and Highlights Strategic Growth Opportunities

DENVER, Sept. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vista Gold Corp. (NYSE American and TSX: VGZ) (“Vista” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on the Company’s 100% owned Mt Todd gold project (“Mt Todd” or the “Project”) located in Northern Territory, Australia and outline strategic growth opportunities.

Key Highlights

Vista continues to advance programs expected to add value and de-risk Mt Todd. Recent and ongoing programs include:

• A drill program to test Batman North extensions, with the goal of adding higher-grade, near surface mineral resources immediately adjacent to the planned Batman pit
• Geotechnical drilling and foundation investigations to shorten the time required to complete a feasibility study and support future detailed engineering
• Ongoing internal evaluations to assess the potential to increase recovered gold resources and extend the life of the Project
• Internal evaluations on Project economic sensitivity information
• Lowering water levels in the Batman pit through successful water management program implementation
• Advancing the review process of the Mine Management Plan (“MMP”) to final stages of approval

Frederick Earnest, President and CEO of Vista commented, “With the steady improvement in the gold price, Vista continues to pursue opportunities to add additional value to Mt Todd, beyond the significant positive impact of the current gold price, and further de-risk the Project. Our ongoing efforts focus on securing approval of our last major permit, the MMP, improving the Project execution timeline, and organic growth opportunities immediately adjacent to the proposed Batman pit and at other prioritized exploration targets.

The compilation of previously reported geologic data and subsequent field investigations of that existing data have identified what we believe is the up-plunge, northern extension of the higher-grade Batman core zone as further discussed in our news release dated June 2, 2020. Confirmation of the surface geology work through drilling is expected to lead to additional efforts to evaluate the continuity of mineralization along the structural corridor northeast of the Batman deposit.

Sustained current gold prices demonstrate the tremendous leverage that Mt Todd enjoys. Our mine plan is conservatively based on a US$1,000 gold price. Given recent and sustained higher gold prices, we are conducting an internal evaluation to assess the potential impact of increasing the gold price used for mine planning. We anticipate that a modest change to that gold price may increase reserves and mine life. Mt Todd is well advanced, de-risked and with the appropriate partner, ready to transition from an exploration and development project to a large-scale, low-cost gold producer.”