Mr. Frederick Earnest reports

VISTA GOLD CORP. ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 2016 RESULTS

Vista Gold Corp. has released its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 (all amounts are in U.S. dollars). Management's quarterly conference call to discuss these results is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. MT on May 3, 2016. The company's unaudited financial statements, management's discussion and analysis together with other important disclosures can be found in the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q, filed on April 29, 2016, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian securities regulatory authorities.

Summary of first quarter 2016 financial results

The company reported a net loss of $700,000 or one cent per share for the three months ended March 31, 2016. This includes $2.2-million of operating expenses; a $700,000 payment received from the Australian government under a research and development incentive program for costs incurred in the 2014 fiscal year; an unrealized $500,000 mark-to-market gain on the company's investment in Midas Gold Corp.; and $300,000 of other income. During the three months ended March 31, 2015, the company reported a net loss of $900,000 or one cent per share inclusive of $2.2-million of operating expenses; an unrealized $700,000 mark-to-market loss on its investment in Midas; and a $2.0-million gain on the sale of the Los Cardones gold project in Mexico.

Working capital at March 31, 2016, totalled approximately $14.0-million, including cash and short-term investments (comprising government securities) of approximately $12.0-million. The company has no debt.

Frederick H. Earnest, president and chief executive officer, commented: "We continue to believe that our balance sheet will fund our currently planned activities into 2018, and we still have potential future sources of non-dilutive financing including the sale of our used mill equipment and our non-core Guadalupe de los Reyes gold/silver project in Mexico. Our focus remains fixed on our Mt. Todd gold project where we are completing additional modelling and testing to support our request for authorization under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999 (Australia); and we are analyzing recommendations from a team of technical experts that we engaged earlier this year to review key parts of the Mt. Todd gold project.

"We are encouraged by the apparent renewed interest in the gold sector and the significant leverage that Vista stock has displayed relative to gold price changes. We remain committed to adding to the already extraordinary value of the Mt. Todd gold project as we work to prepare it for rapid advancement when economic conditions warrant."

To review the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2016, including the related management's discussion and analysis, visit SEDAR, EDGAR or the company's website.

Management conference call

A conference call with management to review the company's financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2016, and to discuss corporate and project activities is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at 2:30 p.m. MT.

Toll-free in North America:  1-866-233-4585

International:  416-640-5946

This call will also be webcast.

This call will be archived and available at the company's website after May 3, 2016. Audio replay will be available for 21 days by calling toll-free in North America at 1-888-203-1112, passcode 5844824.

If you are unable to access the audio or phone-in on the day of the conference call, please e-mail questions to Connie Martinez, manager, investor relations (connie@vistagold.com), and the company will try to address these questions prior to or during the conference call.

We seek Safe Harbor.