DENVER, July 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Vista Gold Corp.
(TSX & NYSE Amex Equities: VGZ) ("Vista" or the "Corporation")
today announced that Midas Gold Corp. ("Midas") has successfully
completed an IPO, issuing 12,307,700 common shares of Midas ("Midas
Shares") for gross proceeds of Cdn$40,000,025 million. Midas Shares began
trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange today under the symbol "MAX."
Vista owns 31,802,615 Midas Shares, which following the
completion of Midas' IPO represents 30.7 % of the issued and
outstanding shares of Midas. Based on the IPO price of
Cdn$3.25 per share, Vista's
investment in Midas is expected to have a value of Cdn$103,358,499 and based on the number of issued
common shares of Vista, this is equivalent to Cdn$1.45 per Vista share.
In April 2011, through a
combination transaction, Vista and Midas Gold, Inc. consolidated
their respective mineral properties in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine
gold district in Idaho to form
what is now called the Golden Meadows Project. The
combination transaction resulted in Midas owning the Golden Meadows
Project.
Fred Earnest, Vista's President
and COO, commented, "We congratulate Stephen Quin and the Midas team on a
well-executed IPO. We believe that the consolidation and IPO
confirms our view of the significant value of our prior holdings in
the Yellow Pine district. We
also believe that the Golden Meadows Project has substantial upside
potential. Midas has announced that they will be undertaking
a major exploration program in 2011 designed to increase the
confidence level of the known mineral resources, expand the known
deposits, and test for potential new deposits in the district.
Our investment in Midas is an important asset for Vista and
its shareholders and represents a potential return worth many times
our investment in the Yellow Pine
property. We hope our investment in Midas will continue to grow as
Midas experiences expected continued successes as it accelerates
the exploration and development of the Golden Meadows Project."
About Vista Gold Corp.
During the period 2002-2006, Vista acquired a number of gold
properties containing well understood and defined mineral
resources, at low prices compared to today. In 2007, Vista
completed a transaction, in which Vista contributed its extensive
Nevada gold mining interests to
form Allied Nevada Gold Corp. ("ANV"). Following the formation of
ANV, Vista made a substantial return to its shareholders in the
form of common shares of ANV. Since that time, Vista has been
adding value to its remaining properties through transactions and
advancing the development of the Mt. Todd gold project in Northern
Territory, Australia, and the
Concordia gold project in
Baja California Sur, Mexico,
towards a production decision. Recently, Vista has added
substantially to its balance sheet through its investment in Midas
Gold Corp. In April 2011, Vista
participated in a transaction that combined Vista's holdings in
Idaho with that of Midas Gold,
Inc. to form Midas. Vista's other holdings include the Guadalupe de
los Reyes gold-silver project in Mexico, the Awak Mas gold project in
Indonesia, and the Long Valley
gold project in California.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. The Midas Gold
securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and can not be
offered or sold in the United
States absent such registration or an exemption from such
registration requirements.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and
forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian
securities laws. All statements, other than statements of
historical facts, included in this press release that address
activities, events or developments that Vista expects or
anticipates will or may occur in the future, including such things
as, the value of the Golden Meadows project, the upside potential
at the Golden Meadows project, the completion and results of
Midas's drilling program at the Golden Meadows project, the
potential to increase and better define current estimated gold
mineral resources, the potential to make new discoveries in the
Golden Meadows project district, the expected success the Midas's
exploration and development of the Golden Meadows project and the
potential value of Vista's investment in Midas and other such
matters are forward-looking statements and forward-looking
information. When used in this press release, the words
"optimistic," "potential," "indicate," "expect," "intend," "hopes,"
"believe," "may," "will," "could", "if," "anticipate," and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information. These statements involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause
the actual results, performance or achievements of Vista to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such
factors include, among others, risks related to Midas's exploration
and development activities, uncertainty regarding the outcome of
exploration programs, uncertainty regarding estimates of mineral
resources, risk and uncertainty regarding the future value of the
Midas shares; as well as those factors discussed under the
headings "Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk
Factors" in Vista's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed on
March 14, 2011, and other documents
filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian
securities regulatory authorities. Although Vista has
attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those described in
forward-looking statements and forward-looking information, there
may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated,
estimated or intended. Except as required by law, Vista
assumes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statements or forward-looking information; whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise.
For further information, please contact Connie Martinez at (720) 981-1185, or visit the
Vista Gold Corp. website at www.vistagold.com
SOURCE Vista Gold Corp.