Mr. Jonathan Awde reports

GOLD STANDARD COMMENCES DRILLING AT THE PINION OXIDE GOLD DEPOSIT AND AT THE NORTH BULLION DEPOSIT

Gold Standard Ventures Corp. has begun reverse circulation and core drilling on the Pinion and North Bullion deposits at its 100-per-cent-owned/controlled Railroad-Pinion project in Nevada's Carlin trend.

Drilling has commenced with three rigs. As springtime access conditions improve over the coming weeks, two additional rigs will be added to the program and dedicated to testing targets at the recent North Dark Star gold discovery. The $13.4-million (U.S.) program includes up to 43,000 metres of reverse circulation and core drilling in a total of 100 holes (see Feb. 23, 2016, news release).

Jonathan Awde, chief executive officer and director of Gold Standard, commented: "This is the most aggressive program we have ever undertaken on our Carlin assets. The top priority is to follow up on last year's spectacular oxide gold discovery at North Dark Star. We expect to expand the known resources at Dark Star and Pinion, test the six-kilometre-long north-striking Dark Star structural corridor, and drill new high-value targets at North Bullion and Bald Mountain."

Key highlights

Pinion:

• At Northwest Pinion, complete about 5,700 m of RC drilling to extend known oxide mineralization along the South fault corridor, an important control on gold mineralization at Pinion;
• At the new Sentinel breccia target, 12 RC holes (about 3,700 m) will test for bedrock extensions to gold mineralization identified by surface rock samples. This undrilled target, located 350 m north of Pinion, is a hematitic, silicified multilithic breccia within the footwall of the north-striking Bullion fault zone. At a 0.14-gram-per-tonne-gold cut-off, continuous rock-chip channel samples returned seven significant weight-averaged, composite intervals that included 27.4 m of 0.35 g/t Au and 12.2 m of 0.46 g/t Au (see news release dated Jan. 25, 2016);
• At the Pinion Main zone and North Pinion complete four core holes to provide material for initial column leach testing;
• At the NW Main zone, Far Northwest and South Pinion targets complete about 3,000 m of RC drilling to extend areas of known oxide mineralization outward from the Pinion resource;
• At the new Irene target, 2.4 kilometres northwest of the Pinion resource, complete approximately 1,800 m of RC scout drilling. Irene is located along the projection of the South fault corridor, an important control on gold mineralization at Pinion. At this location, north- and northwest-trending gold-in-soil (values ranging from less than one to 325 parts per billion) and arsenic-in-soil (values ranging from 10 to 2,670 parts per million) anomalies are coincident with silicified, quartz-and-barite-veined breccias in the Chainman formation above the favourable breccia host horizon at the top of Devils Gate limestone (see March 25, 2015, news release).

North Bullion:

• Drill nine holes (approximately 4,800 m) to extend areas of west-northwest- and north-trending, high-grade gold mineralization in the Lower breccia zone and test new targets recognized in multiple data sets, including grade times thickness contours, structure contours, gravity and CSAMT.

Mac Jackson, Gold Standard's vice-president of exploration, stated: "We are testing multiple, high-quality targets at the Railroad-Pinion project. Our progress is the result of diligent, systematic geologic work and persistence. We look forward to continuing that style of exploration with further success in this year's program."

Sampling methodology, chain of custody, quality assurance/quality control

All sampling was conducted under the supervision of the company's project geologists and the chain of custody from the project to the sample preparation facility was continuously monitored. A blank or certified reference material was inserted approximately every 10th sample. Pinion and North Bullion samples were delivered to ALS Minerals preparation facility in Elko, Nev. The samples are crushed, pulverized and sample pulps are shipped to an ALS Minerals-certified laboratory in Vancouver. Pulps are digested and analyzed for gold using fire assay fusion and an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish on a 30-gram split. Silver is determined by a four-acid digestion and AAS analysis. All other elements are determined by ICP analysis. Data verification of the analytical results includes a statistical analysis of the standards and blanks that must pass certain parameters for acceptance to insure accurate and verifiable results.

The 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, CPG-10216, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

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