Erdene Names Dr. Anna Biolik and David Mosher as Nominees to its Board of Directors

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwired - May 17, 2016) - Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD) ("Erdene" or "Company") is pleased to announce that Dr. Anna Biolik and David Mosher will be included as nominees for election to its Board of Directors at the Company's upcoming Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders to be held on June 14, 2016.

"As we advance our core gold projects in southwest Mongolia, the expertise required at the board level is moving from exploration and finance experience to mining, business development and government relations. We believe that Dr. Biolik and Mr. Mosher provide industry leading strengths in these areas internationally, and are very strong candidates for the Erdene board," said Peter Akerley, Erdene's President and CEO. "Anna is among North America's leading authorities on business and diplomacy in the Central Asian region, having acted as Canada's first resident Ambassador in Mongolia, while David is a gold mining executive with decades of experience in mine and company building in foreign jurisdictions, including Russia. They will be included on the slate of Management's nominees in addition to all of the existing Directors."

Dr. Anna G. Biolik

Dr. Biolik has over 30 years of public and private sector experience and is one of the foremost Canadian experts on Central Asian business and diplomacy. From 2010 to 2012, Dr. Biolik occupied the position of Regional Director, Pacific Region, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. In 2012, Dr. Biolik retired from the federal public service. Since 2014, she has been working as independent consultant and Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of Allam Advisory Group, a global business strategy and commercial diplomacy consulting firm. She was Canada's first resident Ambassador in Mongolia where she opened a full-fledged Canadian Embassy in 2008. Dr. Biolik previously served as Ambassador of Canada to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as well as Consul General of Canada in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. She also served as Senior Advisor for international relations and parliamentary affairs to the Governor General of Canada and as European Marketing Manager for Canada Post, Senior Manager at Investment Partnerships Canada and Director of the International Business Opportunities Centre. Dr. Biolik has extensive expertise in international commerce and has worked closely with Canadian companies in emerging markets. Dr. Biolik currently serves as external member of the Program and Research Council at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC and as Canadian Board Director to the North America-Mongolia Business Council. Dr. Biolik is also a member of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Montreal and is fluent in English, French, Russian and Polish.

Mr. David Mosher

Mr. David Mosher is a mining executive with over thirty-five years of international experience. From 1992 to 2008, David was President and CEO of High River Gold Mines Ltd., a TSX listed company involved in the exploration, development and production of gold in Canada, Africa and Russia. In that role, he negotiated the acquisition of two producing Russian gold mines, completed mining investment agreements with the government of Burkina Faso, raised over $300 million to support the company's growth, and supervised the development of two open pit gold mines (the Taparko gold mine in Burkina Faso, and the Berezitovy gold mine in Russia). He has served on many boards including Cambior Inc. and earlier in his career was project manager for Pancontinental Mining Limited, where he and his team discovered and outlined the largest uranium deposit in the world at that time (the Jabiluka deposits in northern Australia).

Over the past decade, Mr. Mosher has been active in the restructuring and refinancing of a number of junior resource companies, both private and public, and currently serves as a director of several mining and exploration companies, including Pancontinental Uranium Corporation (TSX-V) and Pelangio Exploration Inc. (TSX-V). Mr. Mosher received his B.Sc. degree in geology from Acadia University.

About Erdene

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of base and precious metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The Company holds four exploration licenses and a mining license in southwest Mongolia. These include: Altan Nar - an extensive, high-grade, near-surface, gold-polymetallic project that the Company is advancing toward a production decision, however the Company has not yet completed a mining study to support the technical feasibility and economic viability of Altan Nar; Bayan Khundii - a high-grade gold discovery made in Q2-2015 that the Company is actively exploring; Khuvyn Khar - an early-stage, copper-silver porphyry project with multiple drill targets and significant copper intersections; Zuun Mod - a large molybdenum-copper porphyry deposit; and Altan Arrow - an early-stage, high-grade, gold-silver project. In addition to the above properties, the Company has an Alliance with Teck Resources Limited on regional, copper-gold exploration in the prospective Trans Altay region of southwest Mongolia. For further information on the Company, please visit www.erdene.com. Erdene has 117,736,602 issued and outstanding common shares and a fully diluted position of 131,384,791 common shares.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

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