Equinox Gold Corp. (TSX: EQX, NYSE American: EQX) (“Equinox Gold” or the “Company”) has completed its acquisition of Premier Gold Mines Limited (TSX: PG, OTCPK: PIRGF) (“Premier”), adding Premier’s interest in the construction-ready Hardrock Project in Ontario, Canada, the producing Mercedes Mine in Mexico, and the Hasaga and Rahill-Bonanza exploration properties in Ontario to the Company’s existing portfolio of gold assets. Going forward, Hardrock will be called the Greenstone Project, a name that is well recognized in the region and supported locally. In connection with the acquisition, the spin-out of i-80 Gold Corp. (“i-80 Gold”), a newly created company holding Premier’s gold projects in Nevada, USA, was also completed. Equinox Gold is a 30% shareholder of i-80 Gold.

Christian Milau, CEO of Equinox Gold, stated: “With Mercedes and Greenstone in our portfolio, Equinox Gold now has eight operating mines and one of the largest gold reserves in our peer group, all in the mining-friendly jurisdictions of Ontario, California, Mexico and Brazil. We also have a strong, near-term growth profile with construction of our Santa Luz mine underway, Greenstone construction targeted to start in 2021, and significant expansion projects at Los Filos and Castle Mountain. We look forward to developing Greenstone with Orion as our partner, integrating Mercedes into our portfolio of producing mines and being a substantial and supportive shareholder of i-80 Gold.”

Ewan Downie, CEO of i-80 Gold and former CEO of Premier Gold, stated: “Premier shareholders will benefit from the combination with Equinox Gold and its financial capacity to advance development of our flagship Greenstone Project. It was a tremendous honour working with the Premier team for nearly 15 years, participating in numerous exploration and development successes, and I am thankful for the support of this group and our shareholders. We now look to the future and the public launch of i-80 Gold next week, with the objective of creating a go-to, Nevada-focused mining and development company.”

Premier’s common shares are expected to be de-listed from the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) within two to three business days. Premier shareholders will receive 0.1967 of an Equinox Gold common share for each Premier share held. Each Premier warrant and option will become exercisable for Equinox Gold common shares, as adjusted in accordance with the exchange ratio. Premier shareholders will also receive 0.4 of a share in i-80 Gold for each Premier share held. The common shares of i-80 Gold are expected to be listed for trading on the TSX within three to four business days with the ticker symbol “IAU”.

Premier shares held in a trading account will update automatically to reflect the receipt of Equinox Gold shares and i-80 Gold shares, generally within two weeks of closing. Premier shareholders who hold physical share certificates or DRS Statements must submit a Letter of Transmittal to Equinox Gold’s transfer agent, Computershare Investor Services Inc., to receive their Equinox Gold shares. Additional information regarding the process of receiving Equinox Gold shares is available on Equinox Gold’s website at www.equinoxgold.com. Information about the process to receive i-80 Gold shares can be obtained by contacting i-80 Gold by email at info@i80gold.com or by phone at 1-888-346-1390. The transfer agent for i-80 Gold is TSX Trust Company.

While Equinox Gold holds 30% of the shares of i-80 Gold, Equinox Gold shareholders will not receive i-80 Gold shares and i-80 Gold will be a separate, independent company with a management team that will include certain former Premier Gold executives.

Equinox Gold has also completed the associated non-brokered private placement of subscription receipts at a price of C$10.00 per subscription receipt for gross proceeds of C$75 million. Certain of the Company’s executives and directors subscribed for C$40.4 million of the private placement. With the acquisition of Premier complete, holders of the subscription receipts will receive one share of Equinox Gold for each subscription receipt held.

With completion of the acquisition of Premier by Equinox Gold, the escrow release conditions in respect of i-80 Gold’s $80.4 million subscription receipt financing completed on March 18, 2021 have now been satisfied. Each of the 30,914,614 subscription receipts of i-80 Gold issued will be automatically converted, with no further action on the part of the holder, into one common share and ¼ of one common share purchase warrant of i-80 Gold. The net proceeds of the financing have been released to i-80 Gold. For further information on the subscription receipt financing, refer to the Premier March 18, 2021 news release.

About Equinox Gold

Equinox Gold is a Canadian mining company with eight operating gold mines, construction underway at a ninth site, a multi-million-ounce gold reserve base and a clear path to achieve more than one million ounces of annual gold production from a pipeline of development and expansion projects. Equinox Gold operates entirely in the Americas with properties in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Brazil. Equinox Gold’s common shares are listed on the TSX and the NYSE American under the trading symbol EQX. Further information about Equinox Gold’s portfolio of assets and long-term growth strategy is available at www.equinoxgold.com or by email at ir@equinoxgold.com.

Equinox Gold Contacts

Christian Milau, Chief Executive Officer
Rhylin Bailie, Vice President, Investor Relations