Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX:PVG) (NYSE: PVG) announced that it continues to intersect high grade gold mineralization in Phase 2 of the North Block resource expansion drill program at the Brucejack Mine in British Columbia.

Following up on the success of the Phase 1 drill program (see news release dated February 25, 2021) Pretivm initiated a second phase of drilling to test the extension of the North Block Zone to the northwest.  The Phase 2 program identified high-grade gold mineralization with five intersections assaying above 1,000 grams per tonne gold. Results include, drill hole VU-2933 which assayed 561.6 grams per tonne gold over 15.0 meters, including 8,400 grams per tonne gold over 1.0 meter. In addition, drill hole VU-2932 assayed 306.6 grams per tonne gold over 19.5 meters, including 5,910 grams per tonne gold over 1.0 meter. High grade gold mineralization was intercepted up to 450 meters from the current resource shell.

“These impressive results confirm high-grade gold mineralization in the North Block Zone and further extend the potential of the Valley of the Kings deposit at Brucejack,” said Jacques Perron, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pretivm. “Based on the success of the second phase, we have initiated a third and fourth phase of the drill program to further delineate the potential of the North Block Zone.”

The North Block Zone is located directly to the north of the Valley of the Kings deposit. The resource expansion exploration program is designed to test for Valley of the Kings style mineralization to the north and at depth. Phase 2 of the program was drilled from the 1150 and 1070 levels in the mine, targeting an area extending up to 450 meters north of the current resource shell. Phase 3 of the program will infill between the existing drill fans and the newly designed Phase 4 of the program will test an area immediately to the northwest of the current drilling.

North Block – Phase 2 Results

Phase 2 of the North Block resource expansion drill program comprised 22,964 meters in 83 drill holes. Drilling from the 1150 level intersected the extension of the Domain 13 Stockwork, which is currently being mined in the Valley of the Kings. Drilling from the 1070 level intersected the recently identified corridor of gold mineralization in the footwall of the Domain 13 structure. This corridor features coarse electrum in northwest oriented quartz-carbonate veins within a broader halo of lower grade gold mineralization.

For a plan and section view of the 2020 North Block Phase 2 program please see the following link:

http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/a0d0b719-e832-45c0-b1a2-c18be5099170.

Significant drill results are shown below:

• Hole VU-2933 intersected 561.6 grams per tonne gold over 15.0 meters, including 8,400 grams per tonne gold and 4,900 grams per tonne silver over 1.0 meters.
• Hole VU-2932 intersected 306.6 grams per tonne gold over 19.5 meters, including 5,910 grams per tonne gold and 3,400 grams per tonne silver over 1.0 meters.
• Hole VU-2962 intersected 191.6 grams per tonne gold over 14.0 meters, including 1,795 grams per tonne gold and 1,375 grams per tonne silver over 1.0 meters.
• Hole VU-2859 intersected 31.6 grams per tonne gold over 51.0 meters, including 1,515 grams per tonne gold over 1.0 meters.
• Hole VU-2967 intersected 61.7 grams per tonne gold over 17.5 meters, including 993 grams per tonne gold over 1.0 meters.

2021 Resource Expansion Drilling and Near-Mine Exploration Program

The resource expansion drill program is currently targeting the North Block Phase 3 and Phase 4 and the 1080 East Zone. In early July, two drills from underground will be repositioned to complete a 13,000-meter resource expansion drill program at Gossan Hill from surface. At the Bridge Zone, 11,000-meters of underground resource expansion drilling is expected to start in late August.

The near-mine exploration program is expected to start in mid-June with two additional drills on surface. The program will focus first on exploration targets at Shore Zone and SG Zone. Then, to follow up on the successful discovery of epithermal style gold mineralization at Hanging Glacier, a 10,000-meter drill program will be initiated in late July (see news release dated December 16, 2020).

In addition to drilling, the near-mine exploration program will include a UAV magnetic survey, MT and IP geophysical surveys, soil sampling and prospecting over the four-kilometer trend from Brucejack to Hanging Glacier.

Stephanie Wafforn, 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 Mineral Resource expansion drill program and the near-mine exploration program and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release related thereto.

Table 1: Selected North Block Phase 2 Results, June 2021 (VU-2762 to VU-2969)^(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 an intermediate gold producer with the high-grade gold underground Brucejack Mine.