i-80 Gold Corp. (IAU)

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Premier Enters into Agreement to Acquire the High-Grade Cove Gold Project in Nevada




Tue Apr 10, 2012

PREMIER GOLD MINES LIMITED
(TSX:PG) ("Premier") is pleased to announce that it has entered
into a letter of intent to acquire a 100% interest in
the Cove Gold Project, located in the heart of the Battle
Mountain-Eureka Trend in Nevada, from Victoria Gold Corp.
(TSX-V:VIT) ("Victoria").

The acquisition of Cove furthers Premier's strategy to build its
United States based project portfolio in proven, accessible and
low-risk jurisdictions that offer opportunities for the
discovery of high-grade gold deposits.

The Cove Project represents a major opportunity for Premier with
the potential to become a "flagship" property for a number
of reasons including:

The Helen Zone deposit is host to an inferred mineral resource
of 231,300 ounces of gold at an average grade of 20.23 grams
per tonne gold (g/t Au) or 0.59 ounces per ton (oz/t), and is
currently being drill-tested for resource expansion".

The Cove deposit was mined (primarily by open pit) between
1987 and 2001, a period of comparatively low metal prices,
producing approximately 2.6 million ounces of Gold, and
103 million ounces of silver

The 6,972 hectare property (17,252 acres) has seen only limited
surface exploration away from the Cove pit.
Excellent infrastructure (including paved roads & power) with
secure land tenure in mining-friendly Nevada.

Advanced exploration permitting initiated by Victoria will
continue under Premier's direction.

"The Cove Project is consistent with Premier's strategy to
secure high-grade gold projects with significant upside
potential and located in favourable mining jurisdictions"
stated Ewan Downie, President and CEO of
Premier Gold Mines Ltd.

"Nevada ranks amongst the world's top mining districts and owing
to the advanced state of permitting, Cove will rank amongst
the most advanced projects within Premier's portfolio."

Total consideration for the acquisition is approximately
US$28 million, payable over a three year term including
$8 million on closing (with Premier having the option to
satisfy up to 50% of such payments by issuing common shares
to Victoria).

Upon delivering a positive feasibility study containing a
minimum of 500,000 ounces of gold or gold equivalent on
the property, Newmont Mining Corporation ("Newmont") will have
the right to enter into a joint venture with the owner of the
project and acquire a 51% interest in the project by paying
250% of the aggregate expenditures made on the property since
March 2006.

In the event of production from the Property, additional
payments are to be made to Victoria in the amount of
Cdn$20.0 million, consisting of cash and/or the equivalent
value of Consideration Shares, at Premier's option, payable
in 4 instalments of Cdn$5.0 million each upon the cumulative
production, to Premier's account, of 250,000, 500,000, 750,000
and 1,000,000 troy ounces of gold from the Project.

The transaction is subject to conditions normal for a
transaction of its nature, including the approval of the
Toronto Stock Exchange, and is scheduled to close within two
business days after such approval.

Premier's management team believes that the Cove Project
represents one of the most under-explored core projects
in Nevada.

The project is located in the heart of the Battle Mountain-
Eureka Trend that is host to a number of multi-million ounce
producing and past-producing mines.

Previous exploration at Cove focused in the known resource
areas and a number of prime exploration targets remain
untested.

The Helen Zone which carries a NI 43-101 compliant resource of
233,000oz Au as set out in technical report for Victoria titled
"Preliminary Assessment on the Cove Project, Nevada, U.S.A."
prepared for Victoria and dated May 5, 2011 is hosted in deeper
rock units that were not previously recognized as a favourable
host for gold, leaving the deeper units intact and virtually
untested in the district .
Like several other previous open pit mines in Nevada, the
untested ground below the existing open pit serves as an
attractive target to discover high grade gold deposits.

The Cove property could expand its high-grade resource by
continued step-out drilling on the Helen Zone, a program that
is currently underway.

In addition, drilling below the Cove pit into the deeper
mineralized rock formations remains a near-term priority.

The intent is to demonstrate potential for a contiguous mineral
resource to exist beneath the Cove pit to the Helen Zone 2,000
feet to the northwest.

Premier will also immediately evaluate Cove's target-rich
prospects by exploring favourable structural intersections
along the Cove and other anticlines, follow-up on historic
high-grade drill intercepts (>1.0 oz/t gold) at Windy Point,
and test the Gold Dome Fault that was host to the historic
Gold Dome Mine, whose production in the 1930's maintained
grades between 0.25 oz/t and 2.00 oz/t gold
(Source: "May 5, 2011 Report").

"Large portions of the property remain completely untested
by drilling.
The Cove project's favourable characteristics include grade,
accessibility and significant upside potential rarely seen in
advanced-stage projects" stated Brian Morris, Vice-President
of Exploration for Premier.
"It also positions Premier with another valuable project in
the heart of a proven gold mining district, and represents
a truly accretive opportunity for shareholders."

OTHER PROJECTS

Premier holds several projects that are the subject of
exploration programs in 2012.

Recently, the haulage drift in Red Lake has crossed onto the
Rahill-Bonanza Project (PG 49% and Red Lake Gold Mines 51%)
that is located in close proximity to Goldcorp's Red Lake Gold
Mines infrastructure.

A new gold horizon is being defined on the East Bay Project
(PG 35% and 50% - JV with RLGM) is located on the same
structural trend along strike from Rubicon Mineral's F2
Zone deposit on its Phoenix Gold Project.

Multiple drills are active on the 100%-owned Trans-Canada
Projects, which include several deposits with multi-million
ounces of NI 43-101 compliant mineral resources.
A revised resource estimate is anticipated from three
separate projects in the near future.

Premier is also negotiating its previously announced joint
venture with Newmont USA Limited, , a subsidiary of Newmont,
to consolidate the Saddle and Rain projects within the Rain
Sub-district of Nevada's prolific Carlin Trend.

The parties have agreed to a 45-day extension to the due
diligence period to allow each party to evaluate all relevant
information and assess additional required engineering and
modelling for the joint venture.
The due diligence period expires May 3, 2012.

The acquisition of the Cove project and the proposed the
Saddle/Carlin joint venture project represent two of several
opportunities Premier is evaluating in the United States having
near-term development potential and long-term exploration
upside.
Premier views the United States as a geologically and
politically attractive vehicle for its future growth.

The scientific and technical information contained in this press
release was reviewed and approved by Stephen McGibbon, P. Geo.,
Executive Vice-President --
Corporate and Project Development of the Corporation Mr.
McGibbon is a Qualified Person for the purposes of National
Instrument 43-101.

Premier Gold Mines Limited is one of North America's leading
exploration companies with a high-quality pipeline of projects
focused in proven, safe and accessible mining jurisdictions in
Canada and the United States.
The Company's portfolio includes significant assets in world
class gold mining districts such as Red Lake, Musselwhite and
Geraldton in Ontario and the Carlin Trend in Nevada.

For further information, please contact:
Brian Morris, VP Exploration
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]
Web Site: www.premiergoldmines.com

This Press Release contains certain information that may
constitute "forward-looking ----looking information, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except
as required by law.

View News Release in PDF Format:
File:
http://www.premiergoldmines.com/i/pdf/2012-04-10_CoveAcquisitionPR.pdf
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http://www.premiergoldmines.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=517826


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God Bless