PREMIER GOLD MINES LIMITED (TSX:PG) is pleased to update ongoing drilling results from the Rey de Oro deposit at the Company’s 100%-owned Mercedes Mine, located in the State of Sonora, Mexico.  The 2018 drill program is focused on defining and expanding mineralization proximal to existing mine workings.

The Mercedes Mine is located 150 kilometres north-northeast of the city of Hermosillo in the state of Sonora, Mexico. Operations are exploiting low-sulfidation quartz veins and quartz veinlet stockwork for gold and silver utilizing underground modified overhand cut-and-fill and narrow-vein longitudinal longhole mining methods at an ore extraction rate of approximately 2,000 tonnes per day. Underground drilling at the Rey de Oro deposit, one of several zones being brought into production this year, continues to expand high-grade mineralization including some of the best widths seen on the property.  Recent highlights include:

• UG-R018-013 returned 12.64 g/t Au & 240.1 g/t Ag across 29.65 m (TW of 13.5 m)
• UG-R018-015 returned 0.41 g/t Au & 3120.0 g/t Ag (91.0 oz/ton) across 1.52 m (TW of 1.06 m)
• UG-R018-012 returned 17.00 g/t Au & 321.0 g/t Ag across 1.1 m (TW of 0.8 m) and 4.47 g/t Au & 138.5 g/t Ag across 8.25 m (TW of 6.1 m)

“As we continue to advance an aggressive multi-year exploration program at Mercedes, the Rey de Oro target confirms our belief that substantial potential exists to expand the mine life” stated Charlie Ronkos, Executive Vice-President of Premier.  “This new mineralized zone is under development and we plan to begin mining (prior to year-end) where we are achieving substantial widths. Mined grades at Rey de Oro are expected to be well above our current mine site reserve grade.”

Underground drilling at Rey de Oro consists of step-out and delineation drilling of this recently developed horizon.  This drilling continues to intersect some of the widest vein intercepts on the property and demonstrate the potential to continue to extend the mine life at Mercedes (see Figure 1 below).

Figure 1 – Longitudinal Section Looking NE – Rey de Oro Offset vein target & grade x thickness map

Table 1 summarizes recent intercepts from drilling at Rey de Oro.

Table 1 – Highlight drill intercepts from Rey de Oro Offset vein target

Production at Mercedes is expected to be weighted to the second half of the year owing to changes in mining method, additional drilling required at the new Diluvio deposit and delays in permitting associated with a ventilation raise at Rey de Oro.  Full production has recently been established at Diluvio and the ramp-up in production at Rey de Oro continues. 

Premier Gold Mines Limited is a gold-producer and respected exploration and development company with a high-quality pipeline of precious metal projects in proven, accessible and safe mining jurisdictions in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Stephen McGibbon, P. Geo., Executive Vice-President, Corporate and Project Development, is the Qualified Person for the information contained in this press release and is a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.  Mercedes assay results are from core samples sent to ALS Chemex, an accredited mineral analysis laboratory in Lima, Peru or Vancouver, British Columbia, for preparation and analysis utilizing both fire assay and ICP methods. For a complete description of Mercedes’s sample preparation, analytical methods and QA/QC procedures refer to the technical report for the Mercedes Mine dated April 18, 2018 (effective date December 31, 2017), entitled “Technical Report on the Mercedes Gold-Silver Mine, Sonora State, Mexico.”