Mr. Frederick Earnest reports

VISTA GOLD CORP. ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS

Vista Gold Corp. today released its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, with reported cash totalling $6.6-million. All dollar amounts in this news release are in United States dollars.

Frederick H. Earnest, president and chief executive officer of Vista, stated: "Our achievements during the first quarter of this year reflect our ongoing commitment to maximize the value of the Mt. Todd gold project for our shareholders. We completed an internal scoping study to evaluate the technical and economic merits of smaller-scale development alternatives for Mt. Todd. The study delivered promising results, including initial capital expenditures of less than $350-million for a project with 5.2 million tonnes per year throughput and gold production of 150,000 to 200,000 ounces of gold per year, while preserving the opportunity for subsequent expansion or staged development. Since announcing the completion of the scoping study, there has been both new and renewed interest in the optionality of Mt. Todd under different development strategies.

"We also announced that the results of the most recent Mt. Todd surface exploration program returned excellent anomalous gold assays from the surface sampling of two targets, including up to 4.0 grams of gold per tonne at one of the targets and reiterating our belief that the Mt. Todd land package has tremendous discovery potential. Finally, we continued to take actions to implement cost reductions, which had a positive impact on our quarter end financial position."

Summary of financial results

At March 31, 2023, cash and cash equivalents totalled $6.6-million compared with $8.1-million at Dec. 31, 2022. The company continued to have no debt.

Vista reported a consolidated net loss of $2.0-million, or two cents per common share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared with a consolidated net loss of $300,000, or zero cents per common share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The loss for the current quarter was in line with management's expectations and reflects cost reductions implemented to date. The prior-year loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, was lower because of a non-recurring gain of $2.9-million.

The company's consolidated unaudited financial statements and management's discussion and analysis together with other important disclosures can be found in the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR and with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR.

Management conference call

Management's conference call to review financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, and to discuss corporate and project activities is scheduled for Monday, May 1, 2023, at 2 p.m. MT (4 p.m. ET).

Participant toll-free:  888-396-8049

Participant international:  416-764-8646

Conference ID:  24743194

This call will be archived and available at the Vista Gold website after May 1, 2023. An audio replay will also be available through May 15, 2023, by calling toll-free in North America 877-674-7070 or 416-764-8692 using passcode 743194 followed by the pound key.

If you are unable to access the audio or phone-in on the day of the conference call, please e-mail your questions to ir@vistagold.com.

For information on the 2022 feasibility study, please see the technical report summary entitled "S-K 1300 Technical Report Summary - Mt. Todd Gold Project - 50,000 tpd Feasibility Study - Northern Territory, Australia" with an effective date of Dec. 31, 2021, an issue date of Feb. 9, 2022, and an amended date of Feb. 7, 2023, available on EDGAR or the technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report - Mt. Todd Gold Project - 50,000 tpd Feasibility Study - Northern Territory, Australia" with an effective date of Dec. 31, 2021, and an issue date of Feb. 9, 2022, available on SEDAR.

John Rozelle, Vista's senior vice-president, a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has verified the data underlying the information contained in and has approved this news release. For more information on the scoping study and surface exploration program, see news releases dated March 1, 2023, and March 15, 2023.

About Vista Gold Corp.

Vista is a gold project developer. The company's flagship asset is the Mt Todd gold project located in the Tier 1, mining-friendly jurisdiction of Northern Territory, Australia. Situated approximately 250 kilometres southeast of Darwin, Mt Todd is one of the largest and most advanced undeveloped gold projects in Australia and has the potential to be one of the top five gold producers in Australia. All major environmental and operating permits have now been approved.

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