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LAKEWOOD, Colo., Feb. 4, 2015 (PR NEWSWIRE) -- Pershing Gold Corporation (OTCQB:PGLC) ("Pershing Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the core-drilling program at the Relief Canyon Mine in Pershing County, Nevada has discovered the highest-grade gold intercept drilled to date at the Relief Canyon Mine. The Company has drilled a number of holes with high-grade gold intercepts in the North Target Area, located north of the North Pit. Drill hole RC15-264, a step-out drill hole located near the western boundary of the presently defined gold mineralization, hit an extremely high-grade intercept of 4.7 feet of 76.8 grams per tonne ("gpt") gold ("Au")/2.24 ounces per ton ("opt") Au. This intercept is within a much wider high-grade zone measuring 39.0 feet of 10.12 gpt Au/0.295 opt Au.

The 2014 – early 2015 drilling program continues to expand the size of the high-grade gold zone in the North Target Area. The high-grade gold zone shown in Figure 1 is approximately 1,350 feet long in a north-south direction and varies from 275 feet to 400 feet wide in an east-west direction. The holes reported today extend the length of the high-grade zone by roughly 450 feet beyond the 900-foot long zone reported in our October 29, 2014 news release.

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The 76.8 gpt Au/2.24 opt Au intercept in RC15-264 is hosted in a zone of muscovite-carbonate schist with crenulation folds, multiple generations of pyrite, and hematite. This high-grade intercept occurs within a broader zone of the white clay (illite)-fluorite mineral assemblage that is typically associated with high-grade mineralization in the North Target Area. Figure 1 shows the location of RC15-264 and other high-grade holes, and the area defined to date with high-grade mineralization. The Company is still defining the extent of the high-grade zone, which is open to the west and north.

RC15-264 and the other high-grade intercepts being reported today are shown in Table 1. Eight holes contain high-grade gold intercepts, with six holes encountering mineralized intervals that exceed 4.35 gpt Au/0.127 opt Au. Some of the thicker high-grade intercepts include 77.9 feet of 3.03 gpt Au/0.089 opt Au in RC14-242, 114.6 feet of 2.19 gpt Au/0.064 opt Au in RC 14-247, and 59.8 feet of 2.65 gpt/0.077 opt Au in RC14-249.

The holes listed in Table 1 are part of a drilling program designed to offset previously drilled core holes with high-grade mineralization and to confirm the grade and extent of gold mineralization in areas defined mainly by historic reverse circulation holes. Many of the historic reverse circulation drill holes may under report the grade of the gold mineralization due to poor sample recovery. The Company believes that the enhanced sample recovery achievable using core-drilling has the potential to increase the overall resource as well as to upgrade ounces classified as inferred in the current resource estimate to the measured and indicated resource classifications.

Table 1: Highlights of new drilling results in the North Target Area

Notes:

1. RC14-XXX/RC15-XXX denotes "Relief Canyon 2014/Relief Canyon 2015" followed by the drill hole number.
2. The reported width is not the true width of the intercept.
3. Results from all intervals for which we have received and verified results will be posted on our website at www.pershinggold.com.
4. gpt means grams per metric ton ("tonne"); opt means troy ounces per short ton

"The 76.8 gpt Au/2.24 opt Au intercept in RC15-264 stands out as the highest-grade hole ever drilled at Relief Canyon," commented Stephen D. Alfers, Pershing Gold's Chairman and CEO. "Hole RC15-264 is an order of magnitude higher than other high-grade intercepts in Table 1, and adds to the pattern of high-grade intercepts encountered in the 2014 – early 2015 drilling program. Hole RC15-264 indicates the discovery of a new zone of mineralization on the western edge of Pershing's North Target Area. This zone is open to the north, and to the west, and is perhaps the best of several new high-grade zones discovered in the North Target Area in the 2014 – early 2015 drilling program."

Many of the high-grade intercepts listed in Table 1 are associated with a white clay-fluorite mineral assemblage ("WCF"). The WCF zones, which are soft and friable (crumbly), are particularly susceptible to being washed away during reverse circulation rotary drilling due to the higher volumes of drilling fluids typically used with this drilling technique. Because the WCF is associated with higher gold grades at Relief Canyon, management expects the better sample recovery being achieved during the 2014 – early 2015 core-drilling program to have significant potential to increase the gold resource.

The March 2014 resource estimate is based on the drill hole database through 2013; it does not include data from any of the 135 core holes (approximately 75,000 feet of drilling) that the Company completed in its 2014 - early 2015 drilling program. As shown in Figure 2, the 2014 – early 2015 drilling program focused primarily on development drilling to define the high-grade zone in the North Target Area. The analytical results from these 135 holes are being incorporated into an updated resource estimate. The Company anticipates an updated resource estimate will be completed in April of this year. Once the updated resource estimate is published, the Company plans to complete an independent Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Relief Canyon Project.

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Assay data are currently pending for approximately 30 holes. The Company plans to continue to announce the results of the 2014 – early 2015 drilling program as these results become available. In addition, metallic screen assaying for gold is in progress for selected intervals in the program. This type of analysis is part of Pershing Gold's routine Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") procedures whenever very high gold grades are intercepted or if coarse gold is suspected. The results reported for RC15-264 have been checked with metallic screens. The results to date indicate that there is not a coarse gold problem with RC15-264 or in other drill holes at the Relief Canyon deposit.

Additionally, the Company is announcing results from ten drill holes, which were completed to the southwest of the South Pit on a historic waste rock storage facility (Figure 2.) Previous drilling of this waste rock indicated that portions of it contains material with grades from 0.005 to 0.015 opt Au. The recent drilling of this waste rock area has confirmed that it contains leach-grade gold that may make this material suitable for use as pad over liner or run-of-mine mineralization. For example, RC14-232, which is a fairly representative drill hole through this waste rock, intercepted 0.010 opt Au from 0 to 51 feet.

Scientific and Technical Data
All scientific and technical information related to drill and surface samples for the Relief Canyon project has been reviewed and approved by Larry L. Hillesland, Certified Professional Geologist, who is a Qualified Person under the definitions established by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Drill core at Relief Canyon is boxed and sealed at the drill rig and moved to the Relief Canyon logging and sample preparation facilities by trained personnel. The core is logged and split down the center using a typical table-fed circular rock saw. One half of the core is sent for assay to Skyline Assayers & Laboratories of Sparks, Nevada or Inspectorate America Corporation also of Sparks, Nevada while the other half is returned to the core box and stored at Relief Canyon in a secure, fenced-off, area. Pershing Gold Corporation quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures include the regular use of blanks, standards, and duplicate samples.

About Pershing Gold Corporation
Pershing Gold is an emerging Nevada gold producer on a fast-track to re-open the Relief Canyon Mine, which includes three open-pit mines and a state-of-the-art, fully permitted and constructed heap-leach processing facility. Pershing Gold is currently permitted to resume mining at Relief Canyon under the existing Plan of Operations.

Pershing Gold's landholdings cover approximately 25,000 acres that include the Relief Canyon Mine asset and lands surrounding the mine in all directions. This land package provides Pershing Gold with the opportunity to expand the Relief Canyon Mine deposit and to explore and make new discoveries on nearby lands.

Legal Notice and Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, those with respect to the objectives, plans and strategies of the Company set forth herein including the planned reopening of the Relief Canyon mine commencement of production, anticipated drilling and other exploration on Pershing Gold's Relief Canyon properties, anticipated expansion and upgrade of the Relief Canyon deposit and resource as a result of the 2014 and early 2015 drilling programs, estimates of mineralized material and measured, indicated and inferred resources, interpretations of exploration results and other geologic information at Relief Canyon, anticipated expansion of the resource at the Relief Canyon properties, drilling results from waste rock facility and potential suitability of material for and those preceded by or that include the words "believes," "expects," "given," "targets," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "projects," "forecasts" or similar expressions, are "forward-looking statements." Although the Company's management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, inability to obtain external financing to fund the development of plans for and the reopening and commencement of production at the Relief Canyon Mine, planned exploration, permit modifications or to maintain property rights; interpretations or reinterpretations of geologic information or unfavorable exploration results that could negatively affect estimates of mineralized material and resources; timing and results of updated mineral resource estimates; timing and results of anticipated Preliminary Economic Analysis; whether waste rock material is suitable for use as pad over liner or run-of-mine mineralization; whether coarse gold is present in the anticipated deposit and resource expansion area; whether the historic reverse circulation drilling understated the resource; delay or inability to obtain permits required for planned production, including permits to mine the deposit below the water table, for exploration and other activities; general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; fluctuating mineral and commodity prices; risks of junior exploration and pre-production activities; and maintenance of important business relationships. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Company's filings with the SEC including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release.

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SOURCE Pershing Gold Corporation