Pilot Gold Begins Drill Campaign at Kinsley Mountain, Nevada

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jul 16, 2013) - Pilot Gold Inc. ("Pilot Gold or the "Company") (TSX:PLG) announced today it has begun a 20,000-metre drill campaign at Kinsley Mountain, Nevada, following on an effective 2012 drilling and exploration campaign that defined and expanded gold mineralization over a 2.2 kilometre-long trend.

Drill highlights from the 2012 program include:

• 6.03 g/t gold over 13.7 metres in hole PK061, including 15.18 g/t gold over 4.6 metres;
• 5.48 g/t gold over 20.4 metres in hole PK014C, including 16.43 g/t gold over 5.5 metres; and
• 2.30 g/t gold over 19.8 metres in hole PK057.

(For a table of Kinsley drill results from 2011-2012, including non-reportable intercepts, please click here: http://pilotgold.com/sites/default/files/KinsleyDrillTable1314.pdf)

"We are very excited to launch our next exploration program at Kinsley, and begin building on the success achieved in 2012," stated Matt Lennox-King, President and CEO, Pilot Gold. "The 2012 program was pivotal as it provided 'proof-of-concept' that application of the model our team developed and used at Long Canyon¹ is effective at Kinsley in targeting specific mineralized stratigraphic units and structures. Since then, we have significantly added to our land package and identified new target areas with rock chip samples of up to 3.3 g/t gold, more than one kilometre from the historic pits."

The exploration program is designed to extend and further define Kinsley's high-grade and bulk-tonnage mineralization with an aggressive 20,000 metres of core and RC drilling as well as additional geophysical, engineering, metallurgical surveys, and district wide exploration.

Kinsley Mountain exhibits near-surface mineralization similar to other Carlin-style, sediment hosted gold systems. Gold mineralization is largely oxidized, and hosted in strataform zones within Cambrian-Ordovician shelf carbonates, collapse breccias, and specific high and low angle structures. Pilot Gold has also drilled high grade sulfide mineralization. In certain locations, such as the West Flank target, the Company has drilled through this sulphide material and back into fully oxidized mineralization.

In 2012, Pilot Gold completed a successful 12,000-metre infill and step-out drill program that defined and expanded upon the mineralized zones identified by previous operators. In conjunction with drilling, a comprehensive regional exploration effort generated new targets up to seven kilometres to the north of the historic open pits. A new mineralized zone was intersected in drilling (Candland Canyon) and the Western Flank Zone has been expanded to cover an area 600 metres by 100 metres. A three-dimensional model of geology and mineralization was created in order to aid in the selection of new, high-grade drill targets by extrapolating controls outward from the pits.

About Kinsley Mountain

The Kinsley property consists of 380 claims covering 7,650 acres (3,095 hectares) on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. The Kinsley Mountain project is a joint venture with a subsidiary of Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. ("NEV"). Pilot Gold currently holds a 65% interest. Each partner is currently responsible to fund its share of expenditures on the project.

Kinsley Mountain is located south of Newmont Mining's Long Canyon deposit along the Long Canyon Trend, with a stratigraphy, structure and mineralization-style common to other sediment-hosted gold systems in northeast Nevada¹. Gold mineralization was discovered on Kinsley Mountain in 1984, and subsequent exploration defined sediment-hosted gold mineralization along the Kinsley Trend, including at least five zones hosted in strata ranging from Middle to Late Cambrian in age.

The property hosts a past-producing mine with an extensive exploration database and numerous, untested gold targets. Between 1994 and 1999, Alta Gold Co. reportedly produced approximately 138,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 1.4 g/t gold (head grade of 1.8 g/t gold) from oxide ore in a heap leach operation. Alta Gold abandoned the mine and left an undetermined amount of mineralization in the ground during a period of low gold prices. At that time, gold discoveries were still being made and existing historic resources had not been exhausted². In addition to the shallow oxide mineralization, several deeper zones of sulfide mineralization that were encountered in drilling were not followed up on.

¹ Kinsley Mountain is an early-stage exploration project and does not contain any mineral resource estimates as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). There are no assurances that the geological similarities to Newmont Mining's Long Canyon project or other project along the Long Canyon Trend, will result in the establishment of any resource estimates at Kinsley, or that the Kinsley Project can be advanced in a similar timeframe. The potential quantities and grades disclosed herein are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource for the targets disclosed herein. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in these targets being delineated as a mineral resource.

² A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and Pilot Gold is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or reserves. The historic resource should not be relied upon and Pilot Gold does not infer that there is any demonstrated economic viability.

Further information is available in the technical report entitled:"Technical Report on the Kinsley Project, Elko County, Nevada, U.S.A.", dated March 26, 2012, and prepared by Michael M. Gustin, CPA and Senior Geologist for Mine Development Associates, Inc., available under Pilot Gold's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Vance Spalding, CPG, VP Exploration, Pilot Gold, is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and validated that the technical information contained in the release is accurate. Mr. Spalding has consented to the inclusion of the technical information in the form and context in which it appears in this news release.

ABOUT PILOT GOLD

Pilot Gold is a well-funded gold exploration company led by a proven technical team that continues to discover and define high-quality assets featuring strong grades, meaningful size and mining-friendly addresses. Our three key assets include interests in the TV Tower and Halilaga projects in Turkey, and the Kinsley Mountain project in Nevada, each of which has the ability to become a foundational asset. We also have a pipeline of projects characterized by large land positions and district-wide potential that can meet our growth needs for years to come.

For more information, visit www.pilotgold.com.

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to Pilot Gold within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements that address timing of exploration and development plans at the Company's mineral projects. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "planned", "expect", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe", "potential", and similar expressions, or describes a "goal", or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "should", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made including, among others, assumptions about future prices of gold, copper, silver and other metal prices, currency exchange rates and interest rates, favourable operating conditions, political stability, obtaining governmental approvals and financing on time, obtaining renewals for existing licences and permits and obtaining required licences and permits, labour stability, stability in market conditions, availability of equipment, accuracy of any mineral resources and mineral reserves, successful resolution of disputes and anticipated costs and expenditures. Many assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of Pilot Gold and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct.

Such forward-looking information, including, but not limited to, statements that address reserve or resource potential, potential quantity and/or grade of minerals, potential size of a mineralized zone, potential expansion of mineralization, the timing and results of future resource estimates, proposed timing of exploration and development plans at the Company's mineral projects, and the estimation of mineral reserves and resources involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievement of Pilot Gold to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.

Such factors include, among others, risks related to the interpretation of and actual results of historical production at Kinsley Mountain, reliance on technical information provided by our joint venture partners or other third parties as related to any of our exploration properties including access to historical information on the Kinsley Mountain property, as well as specific historic data associated with and drill results from the property, and related information from Nevada Sunrise LLC and Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. the license and lease owners respectively on the Kinsley Mountain property; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; current economic conditions; future prices of commodities; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; current and proposed exploration and development; the costs and timing of the development of new deposits; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; uses of funds in general including future capital expenditures, exploration expenditures and other expenses for specific operations; the timing and success of exploration activities generally; delays in permitting; possible claims against the Company or its joint venture partners; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, financing or in the completion of exploration as well as those factors discussed in the Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2012, dated March 27, 2013 (the "AIF") in the section entitled "Risk Factors", under Pilot Gold's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Although Pilot Gold has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Pilot Gold disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Further details relating to Pilot Gold are also available in our Annual Information Form, available under Pilot Gold's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.