• Aurvista now poised to test the full gold and base metal potential of Douay with 30,000 meters of diamond drilling, up from the original 5,000 meters
• The objective is the discovery of additional higher grade gold and base metal (copper-zinc) mineralization within and outside the known mineralized centers

Montreal, Quebec: Aurvista Gold Corporation’s (“Aurvista” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: AVA, OTC: ARVSF; Frankfurt: AV2) President and CEO, Mr. Jean Lafleur is pleased to present his year-end message to all of the Company’s Shareholders and Stakeholders.

“2016 was an excellent year for Aurvista:

1. We raised $7.5 million in three private placements at ever increasing share prices.
2. Our share price peaked in mid-July at 38 cents from a low of 3 cents in February.
3. The funds enabled Aurvista to re-examine and re-evaluate the entire Douay Gold Project (“Douay”) from a gold and base metal perspective, via the re-logging of more than half of the historic drill core on site, which led to the sampling and gold assaying of previously un-sampled mineralized intervals.
4. We changed the entire geological picture of Douay, from a mix of poorly understood and unrecognizable rock units and unconnected mineralized zones, to now well recognized sequences of mafic and felsic volcanic rocks that structurally host 11 gold-bearing lenses in a series of E-W corridors, now termed the Adam Creek Gold Deposit, covering a minimum 10 km by 3 km of prime exploration ground at Douay.
5. The gold system remains open on the remaining 10 km strike length featured at Douay and at depth beyond -300 meters. Similar gold systems in other portions of the Abitibi Belt in Quebec and Ontario that hosts Douay, such as in Timmins, Kirkland Lake, Cadillac, Malartic and Val-d’Or do host gold mineralization to depths of 1 km to 3 km. There is a distinct correlation between the gold, iron-rich rocks and alteration, porphyries and shearing, all related to the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone.
6. We uncovered a significant base metal signature in proximity to the gold mineralization. The base metal signature relates to sulphide bearing alteration pipes at the contact or near the contact of the lower basaltic and upper rhyolite-dacite volcanic sequences. The sequence is typical of other areas of the Abitibi Belt where copper-zinc-silver-gold bearing massive sulphides have been mined over the years, such as Kidd Creek, Noranda, Louvicourt and Matagami. Douay is located less than 70 kilometers from Glencore’s Brace-McLeod Copper-Zinc Mine pegged at nearly 4 million tonnes grading zinc, 1.6% copper, 31.6 g/t silver and 0.5 g/t gold in 2009, and 15 km from Joutel’s former copper-zinc producer, the Poirier Mine, with a historic production of the Abitibi Belt where copper-zinc-silver-gold bearing massive sulphides have been mined over the years, such as Kidd Creek, Noranda, Louvicourt and Matagami. Douay is located less than 70 kilometers from Glencore’s Brace-McLeod Copper-Zinc Mine pegged at nearly 4 million tonnes grading 11.5% zinc, 1.6% copper, 31.6 g/t silver and 0.5 g/t gold in 2009, and 15 km from Joutel’s former copper-zinc producer, the Poirier Mine, with a historic production of 5.2 million tonnes at 2.3% copper, 0.6 % zinc and 4.5 g/t silver. 

Aurvista is now poised to test the full gold and base metal potential of Douay with 30,000 meters of diamond drilling, up from the original 5,000 meters. The objective is to discover additional higher grade gold mineralization to enable a significant increase in the size of the Adam Creek Gold Deposit, and to discover additional gold and/or base metal mineralization outside of the known mineralized centers.

In order to accomplish this we’ve put an expert team of explorers and developers in place under the leadership of a seasoned operator, Keith Minty, Chief Operating Officer at Aurvista. The exploration work continues at Douay, and 2017 promises to be exciting for us.

In the meantime, the Aurvista Board and Management would like to wish you the reader, our contractors and consultants, and all our shareholders and stakeholders, a joyous and festive time during the Holiday Season and a Happy New Year. See you in 2017.”

About Aurvista Gold Corp.

Aurvista Gold Corporation is a junior gold exploration and development Company with 130,689,121 shares outstanding trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and OTC Pink Sheets in the US. Aurvista’s only asset is the Douay Gold Project, consisting of a 100% owned interest in 250 contiguous claims totaling 133.1 km², plus a 90% interest in 5 contiguous claims totaling 0.2 km² and a 75% interest (25% held by SOQUEM) in 32 contiguous claims totaling 11.9 km². In total there are 287 claims covering 145.3 km² located along a 20 km segment of the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone in the prolific Abitibi Belt of northern Quebec. Douay is located 40 km SW of the Matagami Zinc Base Metal Camp and 150 km N of the Val-d’Or-Malartic Gold Camp (both in Quebec).

In August, 2012, Aurvista updated the Mineral Resources estimates that included all drilling completed to the end of March 2012, for the now termed Adam Creek Gold Deposit. The deposit contains Mineral Resources estimates of 2.7 million tonnes of Indicated Resources at 2.76 g/t gold for 238,000 ounces (above a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off grade) or 2.5 million tonnes grading 2.98 g/t gold (at a 0.5 g/t gold cut-off grade) for 235,500 ounces. There were additional Inferred Resources of 115 million tonnes at 0.75 g/t gold for 2.75 million ounces (above a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off grade) or 62 million tonnes grading 1.06 g/t gold for 2.1 million ounces (above a 0.5 g/t cut-off grade).

Following the closing of the $6 million financing on November 15, 2016, the Company finalized the priority targeting of the first 3,700 meters in 7 drill holes of the 30,000 meters Phase 2 Drilling Program. The first targets were selected on the basis of their potential to prove up new and additional gold mineralization in the Douay West – Northwest - Adam Porphyry - Central Zones sector. Drilling and the UTEM Survey results will be incorporated in the 3-D geological model to add more drilling targets with the objective of increasing the overall quantity and quality of mineral resources of Douay. Details can be viewed on the Company’s website at www.aurvistagold.com.

The technical contents in this news release have approved by Mr. Jean Lafleur, M. Sc., P. Geo., President and CEO for Aurvista Gold Corporation, a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

For further information please contact:

Mr. Jean Lafleur, P. Geo.
President and CEO, Director
Cell: +1 514 927 3633

Mr. Keith C Minty, P. Eng., MBA

Chief Operating Officer
Phone: +1 416 682 267