Pershing Gold Corporation: Appoints Jeffrey G. Clevenger to Board of Directors

LAKEWOOD, April 26, 2018 - Pershing Gold Corporation (NASDAQ:PGLC), (TSX:PGLC), (FWB:7PG1) ("Pershing Gold" or the "Company"), an emerging Nevada gold producer, announces the appointment of Jeffrey G. Clevenger to its Board of Directors.

Mr. Clevenger has over 40 years of experience in the mining industry. Since March 2009, he has served as chairman of the board of Golden Minerals Company, also serving as its President from March 2009 to May 2015 and as its Chief Executive Officer from March 2009 to September 2015. Mr. Clevenger served as a director, president and chief executive officer of Apex Silver Mines Ltd. from October 2004 until March 2009. Mr. Clevenger worked as an independent consultant from 1999 when Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, his previous employer, was sold until he joined Apex Silver in 2004.

"We are very pleased by the addition of Jeff Clevenger to our Board of Directors," commented Stephen D. Alfers, Pershing Gold CEO and Executive Chairman. "His extensive experience in mining operations adds to our current team of experts and will bring tremendous value as the Company progresses towards a production decision at the Relief Canyon Mine."

Mr. Clevenger served as senior vice president and executive vice president of Cyprus Amax Minerals Company from 1993 to 1998 and 1998 to 1999, respectively, and as president of Cyprus Climax Metals Company and its predecessor, Cyprus Copper Company, a large integrated producer of copper and molybdenum with operations in North and South America, from 1993 to 1999. He was senior vice president of Cyprus Copper Company from August 1992 to January 1993. From 1973 to 1992, Mr. Clevenger held various technical, management and executive positions at Phelps Dodge Corp., including president and general manager of Phelps Dodge Morenci, Inc.

Mr. Clevenger is a member of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers and the Metallurgical Society of America. He holds a B.S. in Mining Engineering with Honors from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and is a graduate of the Advanced International Senior Management Program of Harvard University.


About Pershing Gold Corporation

Pershing Gold is an emerging gold producer whose primary asset is the Relief Canyon Mine in Pershing County, Nevada. Relief Canyon includes three historic open-pit mines and a state-of-the-art, fully permitted and constructed heap-leach processing facility. Pershing Gold is currently permitted to resume mining at Relief Canyon under the existing Plan of Operations.

Pershing Gold's landholdings cover more than 27,000 acres that include the Relief Canyon Mine asset and lands surrounding the mine in all directions. This land package provides Pershing Gold with the opportunity to expand the Relief Canyon Mine deposit and to explore and make new discoveries on nearby lands.

Pershing Gold is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol PGLC and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 7PG1.



For more information, please contact:

Pershing Gold Corp.
Stephen Alfers, Executive Chairman, President and CEO
Jack Perkins, Vice President, Investor Relations
720.974.7254
investors@pershinggold.com
www.PershingGold.com