Viva Gold Announces Initial Drill Results at Its Tonopah Gold Project in Nevada

Drill holes TG2001 and TG2002 were collared in the northwest boundary of the current $1,600 resource pit shell and extend outside the shell at depth. Both holes were designed to confirm and upgrade existing inferred mineralization and to test the potential extension of the principal mineralized zone along trend to the northwest. Drill hole TG2003 was designed to test a gap in mineralization on the southern flank of the northwest pit zone.

Drill Result Highlights
TG2002: 8.2 meters at 2.7 g/t from 232.9 to 241.1 meters, including 1.6 meters at 7.0 g/t. The bottom of the northwest pit is supported by high-grade mineralization associated with a number of northwesterly trending structurally related shears in the Palmetto argillite (OPA). This intercept potentially offsets hole MW312 (19.8 meters at 1.8 g/t from 226 to 246 meters including 1.6 meters at 11.6 g/t), drilled by Newmont in 2004. The intercept in hole MW312 is located at approximately the same elevation about 35 meters to the northwest and on structural trend from TG2002. Hole MW312 had previously not contributed to resource estimation due to its location outside the of the current $1,600 resource pit boundary.

TG2001: 11.5 meters at 0.4 grams per tonne (g/t) from 134.5 to 146 meters depth confirms and extends a zone of inferred mineralization in the Tertiary Volcanics (TV) beyond the $1,600 pit shell boundary; and a second zone of 3.3 meters at 0.6 g/t from 214.8 to 218.1 meters reflecting a continuation, but thinning, of a lower zone of mineralization in the OPA. This later intercept was a step-out to the northwest of the pit shell boundary.

TG2003: Intercepted anomalous gold values at or below the 0.25 gram/tonne cut-off grade. This hole confirmed previously modelled low-grade inferred mineralization in the zone.

"These initial results confirm and are likely to upgrade inferred gold mineralization to indicated and potentially convert what was previously thought to be waste into inferred resource, in the northwest sector of the Tonopah resource pit. These results also demonstrate and verify the extension of mineralization beyond current resource limits along trend to the northwest. Furthermore, they also indicate that the high-grade structural zones may have stepped (faulted) in a southerly direction in this sector. Overall, these holes provide positive support for our existing geologic model and warrant further drilling to extend the northwest trend of the deposit," remarked James Hesketh, President & CEO. "We are now drilling hole number 8 of our 19-hole RC and core drill program with further results expected in the coming weeks", he added.

View CEO commentary here: https://youtu.be/maYjUbPQOM0

Tonopah Project - Drill hole location map over $1600 Resource Pit Shell and Block Model

James Hesketh, MMSA-QP, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this press release. Mr. Hesketh is not independent of the Company; he is an Officer and Director.

About Viva Gold Corp:
Viva Gold is a gold exploration and project development company with a focus on Nevada. Viva holds 100% of the advanced Tonopah Gold Project, a large land position of approximately 8,800 acres with demonstrated high-grade measured, indicated and inferred gold resources, located on the prolific Walker Lane gold trend in Nevada, about 30 kilometers south-east of the Round Mountain mine of Kinross Gold and 20 kilometers north from the Town of Tonopah. Viva's management team has extensive experience in mining exploration, development and production and are supported by a Board of Directors and advisors who are proven mine finders, deal makers and financiers. Viva trades on the TSX-V as "VAU", on the OTCQB in the US as "VAUCF" and on the Frankfurt exchange under "7PB". For additional information on Viva Gold and the Tonopah Gold Project, please visit our website: www.vivagoldcorp.com.

For further information please contact:
James Hesketh
President & CEO
(720) 291-1775
jhesketh@vivagoldcorp.com

Valerie Kimball
Director Investor Relations
(720) 933-1150
vkimball@vivagoldcorp.com

Forward-Looking Information:
This news release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking information"), including but not limited to drilling operations and estimates of gold mineral resource at the Tonopah Gold Project. This forward-looking information entails various risks and uncertainties that are based on current expectations, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such information. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the global economy; the price of gold; operational, funding and liquidity risks; the potential for achieving targeted drill results, the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with drilling and mining operations; and the ability of Viva to fund its capital requirements. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada available at www.sedar.com. Readers are urged to read these materials. Viva assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by law.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors - The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms in this report, such as "measured," "indicated," "inferred," and "resources," that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC.

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

SOURCE: Viva Gold Corp.