Mr. James Currie reports

EQUINOX GOLD RELEASES FISCAL 2018 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Equinox Gold Corp. has released its audited consolidated financial statements and related management's discussion and analysis for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2018. All amounts are in U.S. dollars.

2018 key achievements

• Strong safety record with no lost-time incidents;
• Mesquite gold mine acquisition completed Oct. 30, 2018;
• Immediately established Equinox Gold as a producer with 25,601 ounces of gold in 2018;
• Generated revenue of $30.2-million following the acquisition;
• Aurizona gold mine construction substantially complete;
• Energized the crusher and commenced commissioning in December, 2018;
• Completed preproduction mining with more than 750,000 tonnes of ore stockpiled;
• Castle Mountain gold mine prefeasibility study completed July, 2018;
• Phase 1 (years one to three) averaging 45,000 ounces of gold production per year;
• Phase 2 (years three to 16) averaging 203,000 ounces of gold production per year;
• $763 per ounce life of mine AISC (all-in sustaining cost), $865-million after-tax life of mine cumulative cash flow (1) (2);
• 483-per-cent increase to proven and probable gold reserves;
• New gold discoveries at Aurizona and Castle Mountain;
• Monetized non-core asset with the Koricancha sale;
• Spun-out copper assets to create Solaris Copper Inc.;
• Cash and cash equivalents at Dec. 31, 2018, of $60.8-million.

"Equinox Gold's primary objective for 2018 was to transform from a developer to a gold producer," said Christian Milau, chief executive officer. "The Mesquite acquisition accelerated that transition, bringing immediate production and cash flow and significantly increasing the company's production profile for 2019 and beyond. With first gold pour at Aurizona expected in the next few weeks, Equinox Gold expects to produce more than 230,000 ounces of gold in 2019 and will continue to grow its production profile with Castle Mountain development, exploration success and strategic acquisitions."

Aurizona update

Aurizona construction is substantially complete and plant commissioning is well under way using the existing power line. Substation upgrades to support the increased power demand are complete and pending final approval by the state utility. First ore has been processed through the crushing system and the semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) and ball mill motors have been fully tested. The construction team is now completing electrical and instrumentation installation, including cable pulling in the CIP, detox and reagent areas, and final motor and instrument connections. The Aurizona team has completed more than 1.2 million hours of construction with no lost-time injuries.

                       2018 FINANCIAL AND OPERATING PERFORMANCE 
        Operating results for the three months and year ended Dec. 31, 2018 (3)                                      
                                                                                                    Year ended
Operating data from Mesquite                                                    Unit             Dec. 31, 2018

Gold produced                                                                     oz                    25,601
Gold sold                                                                         oz                    24,384
Realized gold price                                                             $/oz                    $1,237
Cash cost per gold oz sold (1) (4)                                              $/oz                       723
AISC per gold oz sold (1) (4)                                                   $/oz                       819
                                                                                                              
                                                                                                              
         Consolidated profit and loss data for the three months and year ended Dec. 31, 2018 (3)
                     
                                                                  Three months ended   Year ended
                                                                             Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,
Profit and (loss) data (in millions, except per share figures)                  2018         2018

Revenues                                                                       $30.2        $30.2
Earnings from mine operations                                                    8.0          8.0
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations                                         -        (24.0)
Net (loss) from continuing operations before taxes                              (9.6)       (21.4)
Basic (loss) per share attributable to shareholders                           $(0.02)       (0.05)

(1) Cash cost per oz sold and AISC (all-in sustaining costs) per oz sold are non-generally accepted 
    accounting principles measures. 

(2) Using a $1,250/oz gold price as outlined in the July, 2018, prefeasibility study entitled "NI 
    43-101 Technical Report on the Preliminary Feasibility Study for the Castle Mountain Project" 
    prepared by Kappes, Cassiday and Associates which is available on SEDAR.

(3) Operating data, revenues and earnings from mine operations are the same for the three months 
    and year ended Dec. 31, 2018, since Mesquite was acquired during the fourth quarter on Oct. 
    30, 2018.

(4) The cash cost and AISC reflect Equinox Gold's cost of acquiring the gold in the leach pad 
    inventory on the date of acquisition and the processing and selling costs associated with gold 
    sold. They do not reflect expenditures incurred by the previous owner to mine and stack those 
    ounces onto the leach pad.


  

Additional information regarding the company's financial results, activities under way at Mesquite, Aurizona and Castle Mountain, and the company's long-term business strategy is available in the annual financial statements and accompanying q4 management's discussion and analysis, which are available for download on the company's website and on SEDAR.

About Equinox Gold Corp.

Equinox Gold is a Canadian mining company with a multimillion-ounce gold reserve base, gold production from its Mesquite gold mine in California, and near-term production from two past-producing mines in Brazil and California. Commissioning is under way at the company's Aurizona gold mine in Brazil and the company is advancing its Castle Mountain gold mine in California with the objective of ramping up phase 1 operations in early 2020.

Qualified person

James (Jim) Currie, PEng, Equinox Gold's chief operating officer, and Scott Heffernan, MSc, PGeo, Equinox Gold's executive vice-president of exploration, are the qualified persons under National Instrument 43-101 for Equinox Gold and have reviewed, approved and verified the technical content of this document.

We seek Safe Harbor.