Viva Gold to Commence Drill Program at Tonopah Gold Project

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viva Gold Corp. (TSX-Venture:VAU) (the “Company” or “Viva”) is pleased to announce that its work plan for the Tonopah Gold Project has been approved by the BLM and that it is commencing a 28 hole, reverse circulation drill program at the property. The high-grade, advanced stage Tonopah gold project is located on the prolific Walker Lane trend of western Nevada near the town of Tonopah.

The focus of this program is to initially confirm and test extensions to known, high-grade gold bearing structures in the Discovery, Dauntless, 121 and other zones. Historic drilling in the Discovery zone included intercepts of 45.9 meters of 7.68 gpt gold in drill hole MW11-09c and 21.6 meters of 5.83 gpt gold in MW11-07C. Similar intercepts can be found at structural junctions in the cores of the other known zones. The average depth of drilling, in these near surface targets will be approximately 150 meters. Subsequent drilling will focus on both step-out and in-fill drilling between these major known zones and along extensions identified in Viva’s recent resource modelling work.

“We believe that success in this program will pave the way to achieving Viva’s goal of expanding the Tonopah project to over 1.0 million contained ounces of gold resource”, states James Hesketh, President & CEO.

The Tonopah property contains a near-surface low-sulfidation epithermal gold system which includes near vertical quartz-adularia-gold veins hosted by the Palmetto Formation argillite and the overlying Tertiary rhyolitic volcanics within a low-angle zone of mineralization which includes and often parallels an erosion surface discontinuity at the top of the Palmetto. Mineralization has been identified in a series of north-striking extensional structural zones within an overall mineralized trend along the north-northwest Walker Lane trend, covering an area over 2,000 meters long and 300 meters wide.

All technical information which is included in this statement has been reviewed and approved by Thomas C. Matthews of Gustavson Associates LLC. Mr. Matthews is independent of the Company and a qualified person, pursuant to the meaning of such terms in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Viva Gold is a gold exploration and development company with a focus on Nevada. For additional information on Viva Gold and the Tonopah Gold Project, please visit our website: www.vivagoldcorp.com.

Forward-Looking Information:
This news release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, “forward-looking information”), including but not limited to drilling operations at the Tonopah Gold Project. This forward-looking information entails various risks and uncertainties that are based on current expectations, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such information. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the global economy; the price of gold; operational, funding and liquidity risks; the potential for achieving targeted drill results, the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with drilling and mining operations; and the ability of Viva to fund its capital requirements. Risks and uncertainties about the Company’s business are more fully discussed in the Company’s disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada available at www.sedar.com. Readers are urged to read these materials. Viva assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by law.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors --- The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms in this report, such as "measured," "indicated," "inferred," and "resources," that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information please contact:

James Hesketh, President & CEO
(720) 291-1775
jhesketh@vivagoldcorp.com

Valerie Kimball, Director Investor Relations
(720) 933-1150
vkimball@vivagoldcorp.com