December 20, 2018 – Vancouver, BC – Equinox Gold Corp. (TSX-V: EQX, OTC: EQXFF) (“Equinox Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to report that the new crusher at its Aurizona Gold Mine in Brazil (“Aurizona”) has been energized and dry tested with the expectation of putting first ore through the system in early January 2019.

The project is nearly complete and on schedule to achieve commercial production around the end of Q1-2019.

Crusher circuit including vibrating feeder has been energized and dry tested
Commissioning team ramping up and training programs are underway
Engineering and procurement activities are complete
Tailings storage facility is complete
Powerline sub-station upgrades are complete and awaiting final verification by the state utility
Ancillary buildings and facilities are complete
At the end of November, processing plant construction was 90% complete
Concrete work is complete
Structural steel erection is 96% complete
Equipment and plate work installation is 86% complete
Piping is 76% complete
Electrical and instrumentation is 50% complete
Pre-production mining is nearing completion
More than 6.4 million tonnes of material moved
730,000 tonnes of ore stockpiled and ready for commissioning
The construction team is focused on piping, electrical and instrumentation. The main transmission line is ready to provide full energization to all equipment, and site-wide distribution circuits to local electrical rooms are being commissioned to enable testing of individual equipment components.

Equinox Gold commenced full-scale construction at Aurizona in January 2018 and pre-production mining in April 2018. Approximately US$116 million was spent at the end of November 30, 2018, including fiscal 2017 spending related to construction activities. The project remains fully funded. In addition to existing cash reserves, the Company has US$10 million remaining to draw against its US$85 million construction credit facility.

Construction progress at Aurizona is documented in a photo gallery on Equinox Gold’s website at www.equinoxgold.com and a number of photos are included at the end of this news release.

On Behalf of the Board of Equinox Gold Corp.

“Christian Milau”