Denver, Colorado, September 22, 2021 – Vista Gold Corp. (NYSE American and TSX: VGZ) (“Vista” or the “Company”) today announced positive results for the two remaining holes in Phase 2 of the ongoing drilling program at the Company’s 100% owned Mt Todd gold project (“Mt Todd” or the “Project”) located in Northern Territory, Australia.

Highlights

VB21-012 – Intersected over 100 meters of mineralization, inclusive of three zones of +1 grams gold per tonne (“g Au/t”) subvertical vein-sets

10.0 meters @ 1.29 g Au/t from 469 meters down hole
22.7 meters @ 1.10 g Au/t from 503 meters down hole
13.2 meters @ 1.03 g Au/t from 566 meters down hole
VB21-013 – Drilled perpendicular to VB21-002 and VB21-005 to validate structural orientation

6.0 meters @ 1.25 g Au/t from 130 meters down hole
12.0 meters @ 3.11 g Au/t from 144 meters down hole
Frederick Earnest, President and CEO of Vista, commented, “Phase 2 of our drilling program successfully achieved our primary objective of identifying multiple areas north of the Batman deposit where additional resources might be added most efficiently in the future. In all, we drilled 3,725 meters in this phase and intersected good intervals and gold grades in each hole. We have verified continuity of gold mineralization extending from the Batman deposit northeast over 1.4 km and down dip more than 400 meters. Holes VB21-012 and VB21-013 are the last two holes in this phase of drilling. Our next phase of drilling will provide some infill to our drilling to date, but importantly, continue to step out toward the Quigleys deposit.”

“We were very pleased to have received a grant from the Northern Territory Government under its Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations Program (the “Program”) to co-fund VB21-012. This gave us the opportunity to drill a hole directed at increasing our understanding of the geology as we move north of the Batman deposit. The Program awarded $1.7 million in grants to support a diverse range of exploration drilling programs and geophysical surveys across the Northern Territory. Mt Todd was one of 15 successful projects to receive a grant from a total of 38 applicants. Fifty percent of the applicable direct drilling and assay costs, up to a maximum of A$110,000, will be co-funded from the Program.”

“Hole VB21-012 was drilled to a total depth of 901 meters. The primary objective was to intersect the granite intrusive. From our drilling at Batman, we expected the intrusive to be present at a depth of approximately 800 meters. We did not intercept the intrusive, but gained a great deal of information about the basement rocks at Mt Todd. And while not the primary objective of this hole, we intersected three zones of +1 g Au/t material within a broad zone of mineralization. Hole VB21-013 was drilled to validate the orientation of our drilling and to provide the assurance that we have not introduced a bias into our understanding of the structures due to drillhole orientation. I’m pleased with the thoroughness of our exploration programs and our understanding of the geology and resource growth potential in the area north of the Batman deposit.”

Mr. Earnest concluded, “In addition to the ongoing exploration, completing a definitive feasibility study (“DFS”) for Mt Todd will be an important milestone and catalyst. We are pleased to report that engineering and other work related to the DFS is on schedule and on budget. We are closely reviewing interim reports and look forward to announcing the results of the DFS in Q1 of 2022. Australia is making significant progress in achieving its vaccination goals and we are hopeful this will lead to a relaxing of the present travel restrictions, which will play an important role in obtaining a strategic development partner.”

Table 1 – Summary of Assay Results

Hole No. Grid Co-ordinates Survey Data Intersections
MGA94 Grid Easting MGA94 Grid Northing RL (m) Azimuth (°) Dip (°) Depth (m) From (m) To (m) Interval (m) True
Thickness (m) Grade (g/t Au) Sample Type
VB21-012 188435.0 8436405.0 155.0 260.9 -50.0 901.0 469.0 479.0 10.0 6.4 1.29 HQ ½ Core
including 477.0 479.0 2.0 1.3 4.48 HQ ½ Core
and 503.0 525.7 22.7 14.6 1.10 HQ ½ Core
and 555.3 579.2 23.9 15.3 0.77 HQ ½ Core
including 566.0 579.2 13.2 8.5 1.03 HQ ½ Core

VB21-013 187423.0 8436409.0 169.0 86.4 -53.0 311.9 130.0 136.0 6.0 3.9 1.25 HQ ½ Core
and 144.0 156.0 12.0 7.9 3.11 HQ ½ Core
including 144.0 148.6 4.6 3.0 1.62 HQ ½ Core
including 151.0 154.0 3.0 2.0 2.67 HQ ½ Core


Notes:

(i) Results are based on 50g fire assay for Au.
(ii) Intersections are from diamond core drilling with half-core samples with 1 meter representative samples.
(iii) Core sample intervals were constrained by geology, alteration or structural boundaries, intervals varied between a minimum of 0.2 meters to a maximum of 1.2 meters.
(iv) Mean grades have been calculated on a 0.4 g Au/t lower cut-off grade with no upper cut-off grade applied, and maximum internal waste of 4.0 meters.
(v) All intersections are downhole intervals and reflect approximate true widths.
(vi) All downhole deviations have been verified by downhole camera and/or downhole gyro.
(vii) Collar coordinates surveyed by Earl James & Assoc., an independent surveyor, using Trimble R8 GNSS.
(viii) The Company maintains a quality assurance/quality control (“QA/QC”) program, as further described below.
(ix) The assay laboratories responsible for the assays were Northern Analytical Laboratories Pty Ltd (“NAL”), an independent ISO 9000 certified lab, Pine Creek, NT and Genalysis Laboratory Services Pty Ltd, Perth, WA, which is also independent from Vista.
Discussion of Results

Hole VB21-012

VB21-012 was drilled to test the potential depth of the granitic intrusive under the Northern and Southern Cross zones and for an enriched zone within the Southern Cross Zone (“SXZN”) close to the intrusive. While VB21-012 did not intersect the intrusive, alteration intensity did increase with depth and, as veining persisted, the hole was pushed an additional 100 meters past planned depth (see Figure 2). VB21-012 has shown that the SXZN, both persists and thickens with depth. The SXZN has three +1 g Au/t zones with an overall width of 100 meters (when aggregated), with dip continuity of +500 meters and a strike length of approximately 1.1 km. Vein assemblages consist dominantly of quartz, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite, with galena occasionally present. The SXZN appears similar to the NXZN, which exhibits the potential to host grades twice that of the Batman deposit.

Consistent with our standard drilling protocols, VB21-012 was drilled with oriented core and has provided orientation data for bedding, veining and structures that will greatly assist in understanding the mineralizing controls and targeting future drilling.

Hole VB21-013

VB21-013 was planned to intersect the Northern Cross Zone (“NX
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