Pershing Gold Corp. Expands Landholdings at the Relief Canyon Mine Project in Pershing County, Nevada

LAKEWOOD, Feb. 7, 2013 - Pershing Gold Corporation (OTCBB:PGLC) is pleased to announce that it has located 105 new unpatented mining claims and acquired by lease roughly 635 acres of private lands at its Relief Canyon Project in Pershing County, Nevada. Both the new claims and the private lands are strategic additions that add nearly 2,630 acres to Pershing Gold's land position. The Company now controls approximately 25,220 acres in the Pershing Gold and Silver Trend along the southern flank of the Humboldt Range.

As shown on Figure 1, the new claims are mainly located to the northwest and northeast of the Relief Canyon Mine. Gold Acquisition Corp., Pershing Gold's wholly owned subsidiary, owns 87 of the new claims. Pershing Gold owns ten of the new claims which lie within the Area of Interest ("AOI") of the 2006 Minerals Lease and Sublease that Pershing Gold acquired in April 2012 when it purchased the interests of Victoria Resources (US), a subsidiary of Victoria Gold Corp. (TSX:VIT-V) in this Lease and Sublease with Newmont USA Limited, doing business in Nevada as Newmont Mining Corporation ("Newmont") (NYSE:NEM). Additionally, Pershing Gold has located eight new claims south of the Relief Canyon Mine in the Pershing Pass project area.

Pershing Gold recently entered into a mining lease with BTF Properties under which Pershing Gold has exclusive rights to about 635 acres in the Pershing Pass project area. The BTF lease provides the lessors with annual advanced royalty payments, a production royalty equal to a percentage of net smelter returns subject to a buy-down option, and has a primary term of ten years which may be extended for a second ten-year term and for so long thereafter as mineral development work continues on the property.

Figure 1: Map featuring newly acquired claims and private land is available at:
http://media.globenewswire.com/cache/19459/file/17993.pdf

In commenting upon Pershing Gold's recent additions to its landholdings, Stephen D. Alfers, Pershing Gold President, CEO, and Executive Chairman stated, "We continue to add highly prospective lands to our land package in order to further secure mineral targets that Pershing Gold's geologists have identified on the basis of reconnaissance mapping, sampling, and geophysics."

Since acquiring the Relief Canyon Mine property in August 2011, the Company's landholdings at Relief Canyon have grown from a little over 1,500 acres of unpatented mining claims and mill sites to more than 25,000 acres of mining claims, mill sites, and private lands. This significant increase reflects the Company's belief that this under-explored part of Nevada has potential for future discoveries of new mineral deposits.

In describing Pershing Gold's current land portfolio, Stephen Alfers said, "Our lands include the Relief Canyon Mine and heap leach gold processing facility which could resume mining and gold production in 2014. In addition, we control advanced-stage targets adjacent to the mine that we expect to drill in the future to expand the recently announced in-pit mineral resource of 463,000 measured and indicated ounces of gold and 101,000 inferred ounces of gold. (See January 24, 2013 press release) (http://ir.stockpr.com/pershinggold/press-releases/detail/393/pershing-gold-corporation-increases-mineralized-material-at-relief-canyon-by-a-factor-of-nearly-five-and-announces-an-in-pit-gold-resource-estimate). We also control the Pershing Pass project area south of the Relief Canyon Mine—a great deal of underexplored land along the Pershing Gold and Silver Trend with numerous grassroots exploration targets."

In the coming year, Pershing Gold is planning a systematic development drilling program with the objective of upgrading the identified mineralized areas adjacent to the mine to bring them into a resource category. The Company also plans to initiate an exploration drilling program to start testing many of the grassroots targets in frontier areas surrounding the Relief Canyon Mine and in the Pershing Pass Project area. These projects will require additional external funding.


About Pershing Gold Corporation

Pershing Gold Corporation is a new gold exploration and development company focusing on acquiring, exploring, and developing gold deposits in Pershing County and elsewhere in Nevada. The Relief Canyon Mine property in Pershing County is owned by Gold Acquisition Corp., the Company's wholly owned subsidiary.


Cautionary Note to United States Investors Regarding Estimates of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources

The terms "measured," "indicated" and "inferred resources" are defined in Canadian National Instrument 43-101; however these terms are not recognized under the US SEC Industry Guide 7. US investors are cautioned not to assume that any or all of measured, indicated or inferred resources are economically or legally mineable or that these resources or resources reported herein as an "in-situ mineral resource" or "mineralized material" will ever be converted into reserves. Inferred mineral resources, in-situ mineral resources and mineralized materials have a high degree of uncertainty as to their existence. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource, an in-situ mineral resource, or mineralized material will ever be upgraded to a higher category. US investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 10-K and other SEC filings. You can review and obtain copies of these filings from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.


Legal Notice and Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, those with respect to the objectives, plans and strategies of Pershing Gold set forth herein including the planned reopening and recommissioning of the Relief Canyon mine and processing facilities in 2014 anticipated drilling and other exploration on Pershing Gold's properties, results of drilling, interpretations of exploration results and other geologic information at Relief Canyon, potential expansion of the resource at the Relief Canyon properties, and those preceded by or that include the words "believes," "expects," "given," "targets," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "projects," "forecasts" or similar expressions, are "forward-looking statements." Although the Company's management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, inability to obtain external financing to fund the recommissioning of the processing facilities and other work related to the commencement of production at Relief Canyon, as well as planned exploration and maintenance of property rights; interpretations or reinterpretations of geologic information, unfavorable exploration results, inability to obtain permits required for planned production, exploration and other activities, general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; fluctuating mineral and commodity prices; risks of junior exploration and pre-production activities; and maintenance of important business relationships. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Company's filings with the SEC including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and each subsequently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Current Report on Form 8-K. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release.



Pershing Gold Corporation
Stephen D. Alfers, Executive Chairman, President and CEO
Phone Number: 720.974.7248
www.Pershinggold.com