Vista Gold announces results from a preliminary assessment of Awak Mas Gold Project

Denver-based gold miner Vista Gold corp. announced on Thursday the result from a preliminary assessment for the Awak Mas Project in Sulawesi, that was completed on January 16, 2008, by Gustavson Associates, LLC of Boulder, Colorado.

The assessment stated that using the cut off grade of 0.6 g/t, the estimated potentially mineable resource is 1 million ounces.

In the preliminary assessment, Gustavson considered four different production scenarios, three cases at a production rate of 2.0 million tonnes of ore per year and one case at 3.5 million tonnes of ore per year. All four cases assumed contract mining and a base case gold price of US$625 per ounce. Estimates of projected total gold production ranged from 600,900 ounces to 1,040,000 ounces, with estimated project lives ranging from 7 to 15 years. Overall gold recovery is estimated at 90.5%.

Startup capital estimates ranged from US$123.4 million for one of the 2.0 million tonne per year cases to US$177.5 million for the 3.5 million tonne per year case. Total project capital ranged from US$148.3 million to US$217.7 million. Mining costs are estimated at US$1.60 per tonne of material mined, processing costs are estimated at US$10.04 per tonne of ore processed for the 2.0 million tonne per year cases and US$9.67 per tonne of ore processed for the 3.5 million tonne per year case. General and administrative costs are estimated at US$1.9 million per year for all cases.

The preliminary assessment indicated that as a result of high energy prices and infrastructure costs, the Awak Mas project needs sustained gold prices in excess of US$800 per ounce to justify development.

Fred Earnest, Vista's President and COO, commented, "The preliminary assessment has identified areas of potential improvement which we will investigate as we proceed into the feasibility study period of the Contract of Work. We are optimistic that more detailed studies could potentially enhance the apparent economics of the project. We control a large, potentially prospective land package and we believe the discovery of additional gold will also enhance the project." (alex/denny)

PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT STUDY
Estimated Potentially Mineable Resources above a 0.6 g/t Au cutoff grade, January 2008
Class	Mineral	Gold Grade	Contained Gold
?	Tonnes (x 1000)	?(g/t)	(oz)
Measured resources	4,909	1.40	220,959
Indicated resources	16,279	1.37	717,033
Inferred resources	2,595	0.91	75,922