Atacama Pacific Announces Election of Marcio Fonseca to Board of Directors

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 5, 2017) - Atacama Pacific Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:ATM) ("Atacama Pacific") is pleased to announce the election of Marcio Fonseca to Atacama Pacific's Board of Directors during its recent Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders. Mr. Fonseca is a Professional Geologist and received a Master of Mineral Project Appraisal - M.Sc. from Imperial College, London.

Mr. Fonseca is currently the President and CEO of GoldPlay Exploration Inc., a private exploration company focused on gold exploration in Mexico. During the period from 2013 to 2015, he was the Vice-President, Corporate Development of SilverCrest Mines Inc. during its M&A process which led to SilverCrest's sale to First Majestic Silver Corp. in October 2015. Prior to 2013, Mr. Fonseca held senior management and director positions with Macquarie Metals and Energy Capital (Macquarie Group (Canada)) from 2004 to 2013 in New York and Vancouver and, previous to this, he held various positions with senior mining companies including Vale, Phelps Dodge and Echo Bay Mines focused on the development of mining projects in Latin America.

Albrecht Schneider, Executive Chairman, welcoming Mr. Fonseca to Atacama Pacific, noted that, "We are very pleased to have Mr. Fonseca to join our Board and we look forward to benefiting from his extensive financial and technical experience. As we move forward into feasibility studies and review various options of the development of the Cerro Maricunga gold project, Mr. Fonseca input will be invaluable."

Also, at Atacama Pacific recent Annual and Special Meeting, Paul Champagne, a longtime director of Atacama Pacific, did not stand for re-election and has left the board to focus efforts on Andex Minerals Inc., a private exploration company with a property in Chile. We thank him for his efforts over the years and wish him all the best in his ventures.

Cerro Maricunga Oxide Gold Deposit

The Cerro Maricunga oxide-associated, breccia-hosted gold deposit is located in Chile's Maricunga Mineral Belt approximately 140 km by road northeast of the City of Copiapo. The deposit hosts total proven and probable mineral reserves of 294.4 million tonnes grading 0.40 grams per tonne for 3.74 million ounces of gold representing one of the largest undeveloped oxide gold deposits in the world.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

As defined by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the Qualified Person for the Cerro Maricunga program is Sergio Diaz, a resident of Santiago, Chile. Mr. Diaz is a Public Registered Person for Reserves and Resources N° 51, in Chile, and is also registered in the Colegio de Geólogos de Chile under N° 315. Mr. Diaz has reviewed and verified the technical contents of this press release. Maria Leticia Conca Benito, Mining Engineer, Universidad de Chile, Registered Member of Chilean Mining Commission, CEO and Project Director, Alquimia Conceptos S.A., was the independent qualified person, as defined by NI 43-101, responsible for the compilation of the information and preparation of the overall 2014 Prefeasibility Study.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward looking statements, including predictions, projections and forecasts. Forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the successful completion of the Offering. Often, but not always, forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "planning", "expects" or "does not expect", "continues", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "potential", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", or "belief", or describes a "goal", or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, future events, conditions, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, prediction, projection, forecast, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking statements. Such factors include, among other items, the timing of the completion of the Feasibility Study, the impact of proposed updated mining conditions, including crushing and processing methods and mining rates, the results of due diligence activities, changes in economic parameters and assumptions, the interpretation and actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; the results of regulatory and permitting processes; future prices of gold; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; market conditions, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; the results of further economic and technical studies, delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of exploration, as well as those factors disclosed in Atacama Pacific's publicly filed documents.

Although Atacama Pacific has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements.

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