Gold Standard Reports Positive Metallurgical Characterization Test Results from Pinion Gold Deposit

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jul 12, 2016) - Gold Standard Ventures Corp. (TSX VENTURE:GSV) (NYSE MKT:GSV) ("Gold Standard" or the "Company") today reported that a comprehensive bottle roll cyanide leach program on its 100%-owned Pinion oxide gold deposit in the Carlin Trend, Nevada, returned weighted-average gold recoveries of 69.2% for 10 mesh material and 80.3% recovery for 200 mesh material.

In 2015, Gold Standard completed the first ever comprehensive work designed to determine the metallurgical characteristics of the Pinion oxide gold deposit. Cyanide soluble gold recoveries averaged 82.4% in oxidized multilithic dissolution collapse breccia, the main gold host at Pinion, indicating that this material was likely to support heap leach processing (see August 19, 2015 news release). Results from this work were used to design the bottle roll characterization testing. The bottle roll study was completed by Kappes Cassiday & Associates (KCA) in Reno, Nevada and reviewed by consulting metallurgist Gary Simmons. Mr. Simmons has more than 35 years of experience with mining companies including Newmont Mining Corp. where he was Senior Technical Director of Metallurgy and Technology.

Jonathan Awde, CEO and Director of Gold Standard, commented: "We are very pleased by these test results which represent another important step forward in the process of demonstrating the economic potential of Pinion as an oxide heap leach deposit."

Key Highlights

• Average gold recoveries, weighted by calculated head grades of the composites, were 69.2% for material crushed to 10 mesh size and 80.3% for material crushed to the finer 200 mesh size. These averages are from bottle roll test results on 99 composite samples analyzed at both mesh sizes. The composites are from a wide distribution of gold intercepts in 42 reverse-circulation drill holes and four core holes completed by Gold Standard across the Pinion deposit.

• On average, higher-grade composites have slightly higher cyanide-soluble gold recoveries than lower-grade composites in bottle roll tests conducted at both mesh sizes. Some of the composite samples at depth, below 150m, contained low levels of sulfide sulfur and yielded slightly lower recoveries than the average.

• The average down-hole length of composited gold intercepts was 14.6 meters, made up of 10 individual drill samples. In most holes, at least two composites were made up from commonly continuous intercepts.

• The bottle roll characterization results confirm the consistently oxidized nature of gold mineralization throughout the Pinion deposit. These results will guide location and selection of future composites for column leach testing, the next step in the metallurgical characterization process.

• Excellent correlation exists between the visual logging of oxidized zones containing hematite and/or limonite in drill samples, the cyanide soluble gold assays and now the bottle roll results.

• Average recoveries of gold in different areas of the Pinion deposit are illustrated on the supporting image which may be viewed by clicking the following link: http://goldstandardv.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/pinion-bottle-roll.jpg.

Gary Simmons, Gold Standard's consulting metallurgist stated: "Metallurgical work at Pinion is off to a good start with cyanide soluble and bottle roll characterization studies indicating that a significant percentage of the gold within the oxidized collapse breccia host at Pinion is recoverable using cyanide leach processing. Column leach and comminution tests on composites from representative core holes are planned to begin in the second half of this year and will help determine the details of the processing of oxide material at Pinion."

Sampling Methodology, Chain of Custody, Quality Control and Quality Assurance:
All sampling was conducted under the supervision of the Company's chief geologist and consulting metallurgist Sevket Acar. The chain of custody from Gold Standard's Elko, NV warehouse to the sample preparation facility in Reno, NV was continuously monitored.

The metallurgical characterization study was completed by Kappes Cassiday & Associates in Reno, Nevada and has been reviewed by consulting metallurgist Gary Simmons. The KCA bottle roll test program was designed to be scoping in nature and typically does an excellent job of broadly establishing the metallurgical character of a resource. Composites ranged in depth from close to surface down to 425m and were mostly oxide with some composites containing low levels of sulfide sulfur and organic carbon which caused only a mild reduction in bottle roll cyanide solubility.

Gold Standard's disclosure of metallurgical data in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Gary Simmons, metallurgical consultant to Gold Standard and a Qualified Person under the definition of NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Simmons is a Qualified Professional Member of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America with special expertise in Metallurgy, QP Member Number 101013.

Disclosure of additional scientific and technical content and interpretations contained in this news release have been reviewed, verified and approved by Steven R. Koehler, Gold Standard's Manager of Projects, BSc. Geology and CPG-10216, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

ABOUT GOLD STANDARD VENTURES - Gold Standard is an advanced stage gold exploration company focused on district scale discoveries on its Railroad-Pinion Gold Project, located within the prolific Carlin Trend. The 2014 Pinion and Dark Star gold deposit acquisitions offer Gold Standard a potential near-term development option and further consolidates the Company's premier land package on the Carlin Trend. The Pinion deposit now has an NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate consisting of an Indicated Mineral Resource of 31.61 million tonnes grading 0.62 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au), totaling 630,300 ounces of gold and an Inferred Resource of 61.08 million tonnes grading 0.55 g/t Au, totaling 1,081,300 ounces of gold, using a cut-off grade of 0.14 g/t Au (see March 15, 2016 news release). The Dark Star deposit, 2.1 km to the east of Pinion, has a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate consisting of an Inferred Resource of 23.11 million tonnes grading 0.51 g/t Au, totaling 375,000 ounces of gold, using a cut-off grade of 0.14 g/t Au (see March 3, 2015 news release). The 2014 and 2015 definition and expansion of these two shallow, oxide deposits demonstrates their growth potential.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the NYSE MKT accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements about our proposed exploration programs are forward looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Risk factors affecting the Company include, among others: the results from our exploration programs, global financial conditions and volatility of capital markets, uncertainty regarding the availability of additional capital, fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; and the additional risks identified in our filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com) and with the SEC on EDGAR (available at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.

CAUTIONARY NOTE FOR U.S. INVESTORS REGARDING RESERVE AND RESOURCE ESTIMATES

All resource estimates reported by the Company were calculated in accordance with the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Classification system. These standards differ significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for descriptions of mineral properties in SEC Industry Guide 7 under Regulation S-K of the U. S. Securities Act of 1933. In particular, under U. S. standards, mineral resources may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. Accordingly, information in this press release containing descriptions of the Company's mineral properties may not be comparable to similar information made public by US public reporting companies.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Gold Standard,

Jonathan Awde, President and Director

Contact

Jonathan Awde
President
Tel: 604-669-5702
Email: info@goldstandardv.com
Website: www.goldstandardv.com