Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX:PVG) (NYSE: PVG) announced a new high-grade gold exploration discovery at the Golden Marmot Zone on its Brucejack Property in Northern British Columbia. The Golden Marmot Zone is located 3.5 kilometers north of the Valley of the Kings deposit.

To date, assays have been received for the first nine drill holes of which eight drill holes intersected gold. A highlight was drill hole SU-786, which intersected four bands of high-grade gold mineralization over 53.5 meters.

Selected highlights include:

• SU-786 intersected 72.5 grams per tonne gold over 53.5 meters, including 6,700 grams per tonne gold and 3,990 grams per tonne silver over 0.5 meters and including 787 grams per tonne gold over 0.5 meters.
• SU-778 intersected 46.1 grams per tonne gold over 5.8 meters, including 208 grams per tonne gold over 1.0 meter.
• SU-772 intersected 22.8 grams per tonne gold over 38.0 meters, including 268 grams per tonne gold over 1.0 meter and including 188.4 grams per tonne gold over 2.13 meters.

See Table 1 below for assays received to date from the 2021 exploration program at Golden Marmot. For a plan and section view of the 2021 Golden Marmot Zone drill program and photos of the drill core please see the following link: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/749bcf27-7b97-4cc1-8410-a4735215a7f3.

“Initial results from Golden Marmot are exciting and affirm the district-scale potential of the Brucejack property,” said Jacques Perron, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pretivm. “The gold mineralization intersected at Golden Marmot occurs in the same host rocks and with the same alteration signature as the nearby Valley of the Kings deposit, which is a strong indication it could be a new high-grade deposit. Its proximity and existing trail access would make it relatively easy to integrate into future mine plans as an independent source of ore to supply the Brucejack mill.”

“The drilling completed in 2021 intersected gold mineralization over a zone that is approximately 150 meters in width, 250 meters in length, and 275 meters in depth. A historic drill hole intersected high-grade gold mineralization a further 225 meters below the currently drilled zone. The Golden Marmot Zone remains open and could be of similar size to the Valley of the Kings deposit. We are eagerly awaiting the assay results from the remaining 17 drill holes which we expect to release early next year.”

“These results continue to support our view that additional deposits and sources of high-grade mineralization will be identified near the Valley of the Kings deposit opening up the potential for a significantly longer mine life and continued impressive cash flow generation. Golden Marmot is only the first of several zones drill tested this year with results still to come from Gossan Hill, Bridge Zone and Hanging Glacier. All of these targets have the potential to deliver game-changing results and are within four kilometers of the Brucejack Mine infrastructure. We look forward to continuing to grow the potential of this exceptional property and will release results as they become available.”

District-Scale Potential

The Golden Marmot Zone is located 1.75 kilometers east of the Hanging Glacier Zone where a gold discovery was made last year (see news release dated December 16, 2020). Both zones are part of a four-kilometer trend of highly altered rocks which outcrop from Hanging Glacier Zone northwest of the Brucejack Mine to Bridge Zone southeast of the mine.

The 2021 drill program at Golden Marmot consisted of 26 drill holes totaling 8,466 meters. Previous drilling completed in 2011 at Golden Marmot intersected 2.8 grams per tonne gold over 17.3 meters, including 23 grams per tonne gold over 1.3 meters in hole SU-197 (see news release dated September 12, 2011). This mineralized structure is located approximately 225 meters below the deepest mineralization intersected in the 2021 drilling.

Golden Marmot Zone

The Golden Marmot Zone is accessible via an exploration trail from the Brucejack camp and is marked by a prominent gossan on the hill side. Mineralization occurs as coarse-grained electrum hosted within silicified and quartz-sericite-pyrite altered conglomerates and sandstones, which is the same as the Valley of the Kings deposit.

The 2021 Golden Marmot drill target was defined by prospecting during the 2019 and 2020 field programs, with grab samples assaying up to 8.73 grams per tonne gold. To compliment this field work and aid in target selection, a prospectivity mapping and target ranking initiative was initiated with GoldSpot Discoveries Corp earlier this year. Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms were applied to synthesize the geochemical, geophysical and hyperspectral data available from the Brucejack Property. This program identified 65 targets on the Brucejack Property, with Golden Marmot ranking as a high priority drill target for quartz vein hosted gold mineralization.

Stephanie Wafforn, PhD, P.Geo., Pretivm’s Resource Manager is the Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects responsible for the Near Mine Exploration drill program and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release related thereto.

Table 1: Selected Golden Marmot Phase 1 Results, October 2021 (SU-766 to SU-786)^(1,2)

¹⁾ True thickness to be determined.
⁽²⁾ All samples were submitted for preparation and analysis by ALS Chemex at its facilities in Terrace, B.C. All samples were analyzed using multi-digestion with ICP-MS finish and fire assay with AA finish for gold. Samples over 100 ppm silver were reanalyzed using four acid digestion with an ore grade AA finish. Samples over 1,500 ppm silver were fire assayed with a gravimetric finish. Samples with over 10 ppm gold were fire assayed with a gravimetric finish. One in 20 samples was blank, one in 20 was a standard sample, and one in 20 samples had a sample cut from assay rejects assayed as a field duplicate at ALS Chemex in North Vancouver, B.C. ALS Chemex is independent of Pretivm.

About Pretivm

Pretivm is a growing intermediate gold producer with the 100%-owned, high-grade gold underground Brucejack Mine located in northwestern BC. We strive for operating excellence and our first priority is the health and safety of our employees, contractors and neighbouring communities. We are committed to the principles of sustainable development and conducting our activities in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.