DENVER, July 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vista Gold Corp. (NYSE American and TSX: VGZ) (“Vista” or the “Company”) today announced its unaudited financial results with net income of $1.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. Management’s quarterly conference call to discuss these results is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. MDT on July 30, 2020. The Company’s unaudited financial statements, Management’s Discussion and Analysis together with other important disclosures are available in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed on July 29, 2020 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Canadian securities regulatory authorities.


Summary of Q2 2020 Financial Results

Vista reported net income of $1.9 million, or $0.01 per share for the three months ended June 30, 2020. The Company benefited from a gain of $2.6 million associated with the partial cancellation of the Company’s royalties on the Awak Mas project and a gain of $1.1 million relating to fair value adjustments and sales of other investments. Also contributing to net income was a $0.2 million decrease in operating expenses compared to the three months ended June 30, 2019.

Current assets at June 30, 2020 were $8.5 million. At the same date, accounts payable and accrued liabilities were $0.7 million, and the Company has no debt.

Other Quarterly Highlights

Other corporate activities and highlights for the three months ended June 30, 2020 included:
•Receipt of a $2.4 million cash payment to cancel 50% of the Awak Mas royalties;
•An amendment to the Guadalupe de los Reyes (“GdlR”) agreement to accelerate the final $1.5 million cash payment to not later than September 30, 2020 (which was received in July 2020) and provide for an additional $2.1 million to Vista over the next 12 months in lieu of receiving certain royalties and back in rights;
•Net proceeds received of $1.7 million from other investing and financing activities; and
•Filing a U.S. shelf registration statement for $25 million to replace the previous $100 million shelf registration statement that was set to expire on July 5, 2020.

For additional details regarding the Awak Mas transaction, GdlR transaction, and the shelf registration statement, please refer to the Company’s news releases dated May 5, June 15, and June 29, 2020, respectively.

Vista’s President and CEO, Mr. Frederick H. Earnest commented, “The strengthening of our balance sheet during the second quarter reflects our ongoing operational and capital discipline and gives us the resources needed to pursue our corporate objectives. During the quarter we successfully monetized non-core mineral property interests and realized $1.7 million from other investing and financing activities. Consistent with our business practice of maintaining a current shelf registration, we filed a new, but much smaller U.S. shelf registration.

In addition to cash generated by non-core assets during the second quarter and the $1.5 million received in July 2020, we have agreements in place that we expect will generate up to $4.6 million over the next 12 months. This includes up to $2.1 million under the amended GdlR agreement and $2.5 million if the option to cancel the remaining 50% of the Awak Mas royalties is exercised. Monetizing our interests in Awak Mas and GdlR are important elements in our strategy of providing liquidity to further advance Mt Todd.

The recent increase in the gold price, together with the corresponding increase in our share price and trading volume, reflects growing enthusiasm about the value of the Mt Todd gold project. Vista continues to advance and de-risk Mt Todd and is well positioned, in the current gold environment, to consider prospective development partners who we believe will recognize the value of Mt Todd. We are focused on realizing value for Mt Todd that appropriately rewards shareholders and will continue to efficiently optimize and advance Mt Todd until this objective is achieved.”

Management Conference Call

A conference call with management to review our financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 and to discuss corporate and project activities is scheduled for July 30, 2020 at 2:30 pm MDT.

Participant Toll Free: 800-353-6461
Participant International: 334-323-0501
Conference ID: 7353852