Name: Mt Todd mine.

Location: The Mt Todd mine is located about 50 km north of Katherine and 250 km south of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT).

Controlling Company: Vista Gold.

Brief History: Gold and tin were discovered in the Mt Todd area in 1889 and most deposits were worked from 1902 to 1914. In the 1950s, the area was explored for uranium without any economic success and mining leases were granted in 1975 for the exploration of various commodities. From the late 1980s, the mine was operated by several of companies, with varying degrees of success, with the most recent operator closing because of bankruptcy.

The site was acquired by Vista Gold and its wholly owned subsidiary Vista Gold Australia in 2006. On January 1, 2007, Vista Gold Australia was entrusted with the care and maintenance of the site and accepted the obligations to maintain the assets of the NT government on the site, and, in conjunction with the NT government, to manage Mt Todd in an environmentally sound manner.

In 2010, the NT government renewed its agreement with Vista Gold for the continued care and maintenance of the site.

Over the past five years, Vista Gold has taken an orderly, methodical and conservative approach to determine if the property can be reopened. In 2011, Vista Gold released a prefeasibility study indicating the estimated reserves of the site and, in 2012, it completed a new resources estimate on the mine. The company aims to complete a feasibility study this year, with a new resource and larger processing facility.

Brief Description: The Mt Todd property contains a number of known occurrences of gold, which have been explored and/or exploited to various degrees. The largest and best-known deposits are the Batman and Quigleys deposits. Both were mined by prior operators, with Batman responsible for the most production and exploration completed.

The Mt Todd mine is currently not in production; however, recent improvements in gold prices, in mining equipment and processing techniques have allowed Vista Gold to initiate a series of studies aimed at gaining regulatory approvals to redevelop the mine and reach a final investment decision.

Vista plans to initially construct a 30 000 t/d plant and raise the cutoff grade to 0.5 g/t gold to minimise initial capital requirements and shorten the payback period. Subsequently, the company intends to expand the project to 45 000 t/d and lower the cutoff grade to 0.4 g/t gold to take full advantage of Mt Todd’s large and growing resource.

Mining Method: Current plans contemplate an openpit mine with conventional openpit mining methods.

Products: Gold.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: As a brownfield development, the Mt Todd mine has significant existing infrastructure, including paved access from the major transportation corridor, a natural gas pipeline to the site, medium-tension power lines and a freshwater reservoir.

Geology/Mineralisation: Mt Todd is situated within the south-eastern portion of the Early Proterozoic Pine Creek geosyncline (PCG). Metasediments, granitoids, basic intrusives, acid and intermediate volcanic rocks occur within this geological province.

The geology of the Batman deposit consists of a sequence of hornfeld interbedded greywackes and shales, with minor thin beds of felsic tuff.

Bedding strikes consistently at 325°, dipping at 40° to 60° to the south-west. Minor lamprophyre dykes trending north to south pinch and swell, crosscutting the bedding.

The deposits are similar to other gold deposits of the PCG and are classified as orogenic gold deposits in the subdivision of thermal aureole gold style.

The Batman deposit shares some characteristics with intrusion- related gold systems, especially in terms of the association of gold with bismuth and reduced ore mineralogies. This makes the deposit unique in the PCG.

The mineralisation within the Batman deposit is directly related to the intensity of the north-south-trending quartz sulphide veining. The lithological units impact on the orientation and intensity of mineralisation. Sulphide minerals associated with the gold mineral- isation are pyrite, pyrrhotite, lesser amounts of chalcopyrite, bismuthinit, and arsenopyrite. Galena and sphalerite are also present but appear to be postgold mineralisation and are related to calcite veining, bedding and the east-west-trending faults and joints.

Resources: Total measured and indicated resources as at August 2012 were 261.4-million tons, with a grade of 0.83 g/t gold for seven-million ounces of contained gold. Inferred resources were 88.77-million tons, with a grade of 0.73 g/t for 2.09-million ounces of contained gold.

Prospects: Should the reopeing of the Mt Todd mine get approval, construction on the site is likely to take between one and two years, indicating that first gold could be poured in mid-2015.

Contact Person: Manager investor relations, Connie Martinez.

Contact Details:
Vista Gold, tel +1 720 981 1185, fax +1 720 981 1186,
email ir@vistagold.com, and website http://www.vistagold.com

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