Pershing Gold Corporation A Unique Growth Story NWMA s118 th Annual Meeting December 7, 2012 1
Forward-looking Statements This presentation contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed, implied or inferred by these forwardlooking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as may, will, should, could, would, expects, plans, intends, anticipates, believes, estimates, predicts, projects, potential or continue or the negative of such terms and other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating these statements, you should specifically consider various factors, including the risks outlined under Risk Factors in our reports filed with the SEC. These and other factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. We undertake no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this presentation to conform those statements to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law. Cautionary Note to United States Investors Regarding Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources: We use certain terms in this presentation, such as measured, indicated and inferred resources, that are defined in Canadian National Instrument 43-101; however these terms are not recognized under the U.S. SEC Industry Guide 7. US investors are cautioned not to assume that any or all of measured, indicated or inferred resources are economically or legally mineable or that these resources will ever be converted into reserves. Inferred mineral resources have a high degree of uncertainty as to their existence and it cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 10-K and other SEC filings. You can review and obtain copies of these filings from the SEC s website at http:www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. 2
Management Team Stephen Alfers -- Executive Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen D. Alfers became Pershing s Executive Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer in March 2012. Prior to accepting this position with Pershing Gold Corporation f/k/a Sagebrush Gold, Ltd., Mr. Alfers was with Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) where he served as Chief of U.S. Operations from 2007 until the end of 2011. Before joining Franco-Nevada Corp, Mr. Alfers was President and CEO of NewWest Gold Corporation, where he developed a large portfolio of promising Nevada gold properties including Long Canyon, Sandman, and Northumberland. A well recognized authority in the U.S. Mining Law, public land law, and mining transactions, Mr. Alfers career includes twenty years of experience as a partner in several prestigious mining, oil and gas, and natural resource development law firms where he specialized in representing large, international mining and oil and gas clients. In his capacity as a mining law expert, Mr. Alfers has advised the United Nations, foreign governments, and Congressional committees. Mr. Alfers has extensive experience in developing and executing corporate financing arrangements, complex mining transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and in directing legal and government affairs. Eric Alexander Vice President Finance and Controller Mr. Alexander became Pershing s Vice President Finance and Controller in September 2012. Prior to joining Pershing Gold Corporation, he was the Corporate Controller for Sunshine Silver Mines Corporation, a privately held mining company with exploration and pre-development properties in Idaho and Mexico. He was also the Corporate Controller for Golden Minerals Company (successor to Apex Silver Mines Limited), a US and Canadian publicly traded international mining company with operations and exploration activities in South America and Mexico. In addition to working in industry he also held the position of Senior Manager with the public accounting firm KPMG LLP, focusing on mining and energy clients. He has over 23 years of corporate, operational and business experience. Mr. Alexander has a B.S. in Business Administration (concentrations in Accounting and Finance) from the State University of New York at Buffalo and is also a licensed CPA. Larry Hillesland -- Vice President Exploration and Development Mr. Hillesland became Pershing s Vice President of Exploration and Development in February 2012. With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Hillesland has played a key role in the discovery of several gold systems (McDonald Meadows/Keep Cool in Montana and Nixon Fork in Alaska, Candamena in northern Mexico, and adding indicated ounces to Kinross Kupol Project in Russia). He also defined the 1 billion pound leachable copper deposit at Hanover Mountain in New Mexico. Mr. Hillesland has a B.S. in Geology from the University of Idaho and a Master s degree from Oregon State University. Mindyjo Germann Corporate Secretary and Investor Relations Ms. Germann became Pershing s Corporate Secretary in March 2012. With over 25-years of experience, Ms. Germann has provided extensive C-Level executive support as well as management support for numerous Chief Executive Officers and multiple Boards of Directors (DigitalGlobe, Inc., MolsonCoors Brewing Company, and Einstein Noah Restaurant Group). Ms. Germann also served as Paralegal and Closing Team Specialist for the Merger & Acquisitions practice groups of several nationally known law firms (Hogan & Hartson LLP; Parcel, Mauro, Hultin & Spaanstra, P.C., and Holme Roberts and Owen LLP). Ms. Germann has a Paralegal Certificate from the University of Colorado at Denver. 3
Pershing s Model for Creating Growth Acquire at a good value known deposits that are inhibited for non-technical reasons and advance them to production Land constraints Management Bankruptcy Strategic Partnering and Land Acquisition Attract Expertise to Advance Project Technical team with skill set to develop deposit including: exploration, mine planning and environmental & permitting Generative Exploration 4
Relief Canyon: A Perfect Fit for the Pershing Model Pershing acquired out of bankruptcy the Relief Canyon Mine and Processing Facility Newly refurbished and state-of-the-art processing facility Known mineralization amenable to that process The Relief Canyon Project failed for two reasons: Financial constraints Land constraints Pershing set out to address both constraints by: Acquiring lands around the project Building necessary strategic partnerships with neighbors Acquiring talent and capital to advance the project 5
Expert Team Implements Resource Expansion and Fast-Track Mine Reopening Strategy Steve Alfers Executive Chairman, CEO & President Larry Hillesland VP Exploration & Development Robert Casaceli Sr. Geologist & Geophysicist Doug Prihar Manager of Exploration Pete Dilles Sr. Exploration Geologist Debra Struhsacker - Permitting and Government Relations Bill Houston Landman Tim Janke Mine Reopening Manager Stephen Tibbals Plant Engineer 6
2012 Growth Milestones Eliminated property boundary constraints that limited past mine development and expanded landholdings to cover more than 25,000 acres (39 square miles) Advanced timeline for reopening Relief Canyon Mine and Processing Complex with relatively modest capital investment Completed aggressive drilling programs which lead to rapid resource expansion Identified two previously unrecognized mineralization styles already discovered at Pershing Packard and South Relief 7
Pershing s Assets: The Relief Canyon Mine Acquired Relief Canyon Project on 1,100 acres of mining claims and mill sites out of bankruptcy in August 2011 Situated in an under-explored part of Nevada with significant discovery potential Three open-pits with intermittent gold production since 1984 of approximately 140,000 ounces of gold Current indicated & inferred resource of 248,000 oz gold New NI 43-101 compliant resource expected in December 2012 and Technical Report and PEA in Q1 2012 8
Pershing s Assets: State-of-the-Art Heap Leach Gold Processing Facility Includes heap leach pads (permitted capacity of 21 million tons) and an ADR Plant with a rated capacity of 3.2M tons per year Newly refurbished, fully permitted and scalable with little capital outlay Equipment tests under way for recommissioning Initiating design and permitting work to add a gold refinery Initial target gold production of 50,000 oz of gold per year State and federal permits in good standing 9
Pershing s Assets: Strategic Property Consolidation Pershing controls 25,000 Acres of mining claims and private lands surrounding the mine Mine can be expanded in all directions Previous owners were landlocked which impeded mine development Pershing owns over 700 claims in the Pershing Pass area Includes numerous untested mineral targets Controls substantial portion of the Humboldt Range SOUTH RELIEF PROJECT NEVADA PACKARD MINE 10
2012 Development and Resource Expansion Drill Holes Completed 127 RC and core holes in and around the Relief Canyon mine site from August 2011 through September 2012: Completed three drill programs Spent $5.3 million on exploration Drilled 61,083 ft/18,648 m Drilling included 15 piezometer holes Four exploration holes tested three geophysical targets Expanded mineralized zone 500 ft beyond current pit boundaries Roscoe Postle Associates USA, Ltd. preparing a new NI 43-101 compliant resource in December 2012 and Technical Report and PEA in Q1 2013 11
New Exploration Model Greatly Enhances Future Discovery Potential New model identifies three different mineralization styles Main Breccia Zone explored and mined in the past Feeder Zones new discovery not in current resource (higher grade than MBZ) Lower Zone new discovery not in current resource (higher grade than MBZ) Significant breakthrough in understanding the deposit and mineralization controls Will help identify future high-priority drilling targets to expand the resource 2011 2012 drilling refines understanding of the Relief Canyon deposit and reveals two previously unrecognized styles of mineralization 12
Pershing s Near Term Growth Strategy Grow and upgrade gold resources at the Relief Canyon Mine Leverage the processing complex to fast-track the company to cash flow Pursue discoveries in Pershing s 25,000 acre land position Continue looking for new projects that fit the Pershing model 13
Pershing Gold Corporation 1658 Cole Boulevard, Building 6, Suite 210 Lakewood, CO 80401 720.974.7248 E-mail: investors@pershinggold.com www.pershinggold.com 14