Premier Gold Updates South Arturo Drilling

“Drilling continues to demonstrate the potential to grow reserves and resources at South Arturo”, stated Ewan Downie, President & CEO. “With two new mining initiatives, and the exploration success at East Dee and other targets, we expect this strategic asset will contribute to a strong operational future for the Company”.

Figure 1: Longitudinal looking North presenting all the 2018 drillholes. Grade in g/t Au.

In 2019, processing of ore stockpiled from the Phase 2 pit will continue with efforts now shifted towards developing two new mining initiatives on the property; the Phase 1 open-pit and the El Nino underground mine. Both operations are now under construction with initial production from El Nino expected late in the year.

Phase 1 Open Pit – East Dee Target
Construction of the Phase 1 open-pit is underway with heap leach material stockpiled for potential future processing. Engineering designs for the heap leach option will be reviewed in 2019 and, if approved, construction of the facility is anticipated beginning in 2020. Several drill holes intersected mineralization within the heap leach target horizons and highlight assays are listed in Table 1.

Several holes were also drilled to test East Dee, an attractive target located immediately east of the Phase 1 pit that has the potential to become a new mining centre on the property. An infill drill program is planned for 2019. Multiple intercepts are highlighted in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Highlight intercepts from East Dee Target
(AuCN data suggest recoveries>70%, except * where AuCN recoveries are lower than 70%)

Phase 3 Project

Phase 3 is a future open-pit development opportunity at South Arturo with the 2018 drill program targeting primarily heap leach mineralization. The program suggests the potential to expand mineralization beyond the currently modeled pit shell (see Figure 1) and work in 2019 will focus on de-risking this potential future phase of mining including additional metallurgical characterization on heap leach material. Table 2 summarizes highlight results from the 2018 drill program at Phase 3. Highlights include:

Table 2: Highlight intercepts from Phase 3 Target
(AuCN data suggest potential for>70% except ** not analyzed for AuCN. True width estimated at 85% of the intercept)

2019 Program

Exploration drilling in 2019 will be focused primarily on East Dee, El Nino, and high priority exploration targets proximal to the pits. Definition drilling at East Dee will be designed to establish mineral resources with a high level of confidence. Drilling at El Nino will focus on reserve definition and expansion. Additional drilling will test prospective structures proximal to existing and new mine infrastructure.

Stephen McGibbon, P. Geo., is the Qualified Person for the information contained in this press release and is a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43–101. The primary assay laboratories for the South Arturo Mine are ALS Chemex Labs (ALS Chemex) and American Assay Labs (American Assay) in Reno, Nevada. For a complete description of sample preparation, analytical methods and QA/QC procedures, refer to the technical report for the South Arturo dated March 26, 2018 (effective date December 31, 2017), entitled “Technical Report on the South Arturo Mine, Elko County, State of Nevada, USA” located on Premier’s website and at www.sedar.com.

Premier Gold Mines Limited is a gold-producer with a respected exploration and development pipeline of precious metal projects in proven, accessible and safe mining jurisdictions in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Table 3: Collar coordinates.