Phase II Drilling Commences At Guild Project  

VANCOUVER, BC - Columbus Gold Corporation reported that Phase II drilling has commenced at its Guild Project, located approx. 74.5 miles northeast of Tonopah, in Nye County, Nevada, where joint venture partner Sniper Resources Ltd., is earning an initial 51% interest by undertaking staged annual exploration expenditures totaling US$2 million by October 2nd, 2012.

Sniper reports that four to six RC holes are planned in this round of drilling and that hole depths are expected to be less than 500 feet for at least three of the four drill sites. Carlin-style gold mineralization is the target at Guild where a silicified ledge in Ordovician limestone carries gold values (thirty samples average 0.054 opt gold) over 180 feet of its 2,300 ft total strike length. The jasperoid ledge formed along a northerly-trending structure which appears to extend south under what is thought to be a thin veneer of post-ore volcanic rocks. A number of untested drill targets have been identified at Guild from geochemical sampling and mapping programs, and a gravity survey as well as several line miles of CSAMT were completed to identify important overlaid structures. The principal target is an ore-controlling structure which extends for 1 mile under shallow post-ore cover between the main Guild gold showing and a jasperoid in an area to the south, where it crosses the inferred position of the Roberts Mountain Thrust Fault. In addition, the structure is interpreted to cut the Mississippian Webb Formation in the south end of the block (host for the Rain, Dee, and various other Nevada disseminated gold mines). Preliminary reconnaissance has also identified hydrothermal alteration in the form of silicification and barite veining in the Webb. The current drilling is designed to test for extensions of gold mineralization encountered in Phase I drilling completed in early 2011. Drill holes GI-11, GI-16 and GI-17 in Phase I drilling returned intervals of potentially leach-grade gold beginning at surface in oxidized host rock. Drill hole GI-11 averaged 0.008 opt gold from 0-50 feet down the hole with a high assay of 0.024 opt gold at 20-25 feet. Drill hole GI-16 averaged 0.011 opt from 0-40 feet down the hole with a high of 0.038 opt at 10-15 feet. Drill hole GI-17 averaged 0.009 opt from 0-15 feet down the hole with a high of 0.016 opt from 0-5 feet.