Vista Gold Corp. Reports Drilling and Initial Metallurgical Test Results for the Historic Heap Leach Pad at Mt. Todd in Australia

Vista Gold Corp. (NYSE: VGZ) is pleased to announce the initial results of a sampling and metallurgical testing program on the existing heap leach pad at its Mt. Todd gold project in Northern Territory, Australia. To date, the existing heap leach pad has been considered an environmental liability; however, as part of the ongoing feasibility study, Vista completed a review of the historic blast hole and production data associated with the heap leach pad and concluded that there may be potential to recover additional gold from the existing heap leach pad.In order to evaluate this potential, Vista initiated an evaluation of the existing heap leach pad in December 2011 by completing 12 drill holes and collecting 165 one-meter samples (two were damaged in transit). The one-meter assays were submitted to Northern Australia Laboratories ("NAL") in Pine Creek, Australia, for analysis. In April 2012, Vista completed an additional 12 drill holes and collected 160 one-meter samples which were also submitted to NAL for analysis.