Premier Files Technical Reports for South Arturo and McCoy-Cove Properties

all amounts discussed are denominated in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated

THUNDER BAY, ON, Feb. 2, 2021 /CNW/ - Premier Gold Mines Limited ("Premier") (TSX: PG) (OTCPK: PIRGF) is pleased to announce that it has filed technical reports ( the "Report" individually or collectively the "Reports") prepared for the South Arturo Mine and the McCoy-Cove Project. The Reports may be found on the Company website or under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

South Arturo

The independent technical report dated January 25, 2021 (effective date December 1, 2020), titled "Preliminary Feasibility Study for the South Arturo Mine, Elko County, NV" was completed by Practical Mining LLC. and provides updates to processed tons, strip ratio, cash costs, AISC, NPV, IRR and payback contained in the Company's news release issued on January 19, 2021. The finalized highlight financial statistics for the PFS can be found in Table 1 below as contained in the South Arturo technical report. Qualified persons for the South Arturo technical report are Dagny Odell, P.E. Laura Symmes, SME, and Robert Raponi, P. Eng.

The PFS was based on the current mineral reserves, utilizing drilling to November 2019 with a life of mine plan that includes the underground El Nino Mine and the proposed Phase 1 Open Pit. Mineral Reserves are reported only for material amenable to roasting from the Phase 1 pit and El Niño underground.

McCoy-Cove

The independent technical report dated January 25, 2021 (effective date January 1, 2021), titled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Cove Project, Lander County, Nevada" was completed by Practical Mining LLC. and provides detail to the disclosure contained in the Company's news release issued on January 18, 2021. The qualified persons for the McCoy-Cove Report are Dagny Odell, P.E. Laura Symmes, SME, and Robert Raponi, P. Eng.

The McCoy-Cove property, located near Battle Mountain, Nevada, is 100% owned by Premier and includes the Cove Project.

Highlights of the updated PEA results include:

• After-tax NPV5 of $178.0 million, and an after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 36% based on a gold price of $1,400/oz – increasing to NPV5 of $306 million and IRR of 53% at a gold price of $1,680/oz
• Average operating costs of $215/ton, Cash Cost of $859/oz Au and All-in Sustaining Cost (AISC) of $948/oz Au
• Indicated mineral resources of 1,110,000 tons at 0.316 oz/t Au and 0.850 oz/t Ag for 351,000 ounces of gold and 943,000 ounces of silver
• Inferred mineral resources of 4,262,000 tons at 0.317 oz/t Au and 0.602 oz/t Ag for 1,353,000 ounces of gold and 2,565,000 ounces of silver¹
• Metallurgical recoveries of 82.5% for gold and 67.1% for silver
• Gold production of 743,000 ounces during 8-year life of mine (LOM)
• Average LOM annual gold production of 102,000 ounces
• LOM capital cost of $107.2 million after pre-development costs of $23.9 million
• Mine construction capital of $81.9 million
• After-tax payback period of 4.5 years

About Premier & i-80

Premier is a gold producer and respected exploration and development company with a high-quality portfolio of precious metals projects in proven, accessible and safe mining jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and Mexico. On December 16, 2020, Equinox Gold Corp. (TSX: EQX, NYSE American: EQX) and Premier Gold Mines Limited (TSX: PG, OTCPK: PIRGF) announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Equinox Gold will acquire all the outstanding shares of Premier. Concurrently, Premier will spin-out to its shareholders shares of a newly created US-focused gold production and development company to be called i-80 Gold Corp.

Premier remains focused on creating i-80 as a Nevada-focused mining company with an organic pipeline of assets to achieve mid-tier gold producer status. In addition to its producing mine, El Nino at South Arturo, Premier is beginning to plan for future production growth through the potential addition of the Phases 1 & 3 open pits at South Arturo, advancing the Pinson underground and open pit opportunities at the Getchell Project (following completion of the acquisition), and completing permitting and the underground development plan for the 100%-owned McCoy-Cove Property.

Qualified Person

Stephen McGibbon, P. Geo., Executive Vice President, Corporate and Project Development, for Premier, is the Qualified Person for the information contained in this news release, is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has approved the technical content of this document.

All abbreviations used in this press release are available by following this link (click here).     

Non-IFRS Measures

The Company has included certain terms and performance measures commonly used in the mining industry that are not defined under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") within this document. These Non-IFRS measures include but are not limited to cash cost per ounce sold, all in sustaining cost ("AISC") per ounce sold. Non-IFRS measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore, they may not be comparable to similar measures employed by other companies. The data presented is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. Readers should refer to the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis under the heading "Non-IFRS Measures" for a more detailed discussion of how such measures are calculated.

Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company, its projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events, performance and results and speak only as of the date of this release.

Such forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the updated results of the Preliminary Economic Assessment, Preliminary Feasibility Study and Mineral Resource Estimates on the Projects, such as future estimates of internal rates of return, net present value, future production, estimates of cash cost, proposed mining plans and methods, mine life estimates, cash flow forecasts, metal recoveries, estimates of capital and operating costs, timing for permitting and environmental assessments and the size and timing of phased development of the Project. Furthermore, with respect to this specific forward-looking information concerning the development of the Project, the company has based its assumptions and analysis on certain factors that are inherently uncertain. Uncertainties include: (i) the adequacy of infrastructure; (ii) geological characteristics; (iii) metallurgical characteristics of the mineralization; (iv) the ability to develop adequate processing capacity; (v) the price of gold and silver; (vi) the availability of equipment and facilities necessary to complete development; (vii) the cost of consumables and mining and processing equipment; (viii) unforeseen technological and engineering problems; (ix) accidents; * currency fluctuations; (xi) changes in regulations; (xii) the compliance by joint venture partners with terms of agreements; (xiii) the availability and productivity of skilled labour; (xiv) the regulation of the mining industry by various governmental agencies; (xv) the ability to raise sufficient capital to develop such projects; (xiv) changes in project scope or design; and (xv) political factors.

Forward-looking statements and information involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or information, including, but not limited to, the factors discussed below and elsewhere in this release, as well as unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with the company to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; and the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this release are based upon what management of the company believes are reasonable assumptions, the company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required under applicable securities laws, the company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.

The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of the factors described herein and set out in the "Risks and Risk Management" section in the company's Q3 2020 MD&A and under the heading "Risk Factors" in its current annual information form.

SOURCE Premier Gold Mines Limited

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