Gold Standard Ventures Corp.: New Director and Advisors Appointed

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 17, 2011) - Gold Standard Ventures Corp. ("Gold Standard") (TSX VENTURE:GV)(OTCQX:GDVXF) www.goldstandardv.com announced today that Bill Threlkeld has been appointed as a director of the Company. To accommodate the appointment of the new director, Rob Mcleod has resigned from Gold Standard's Board of Directors and will stay on with the Company as an advisor to the Board.

The Company also announced that Jim Anthony and Rudi Fronk have joined the advisory board. The advisory board had previously consisted of Jonathan Rubenstein and David Cole.

"We are extremely pleased and fortunate to be adding three such highly accomplished people to the Gold Standard team," comments Jonathan Awde, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The collective experience and track record of Jim, Rudi and Bill, in conjunction with the strategic alliance with FCMI (as announced on March 3, 2011), will play a key role in the Company's growth strategy."

William E. Threlkeld is acknowledged as one of North America's outstanding geologists. For the past 11 years, Bill has served as Senior Vice-President of Seabridge Gold where he has designed and executed exploration and resource delineation programs which have defined more than 45 million ounces of measured and indicated gold resources. His successes include the discovery and definition of the Mitchell and Iron Cap deposits which have made the KSM project in British Columbia the largest gold reserve in Canada. Bill began his career at Noranda Exploration Inc. but achieved his greatest recognition at Placer Dome Inc. From 1991 to 1997, as Exploration Manager and Vice President, he was responsible for all of Placer Dome's exploration activity and investment in Latin America, directing programs that resulted in the discovery and delineation of Las Cristinas, Venezuela (9.7 million ounces), Cerro Crucitas, Costa Rica (2.3 million ounces) and Mulatos, Mexico (2.0 million ounces). From 1997 to 2000, he was Vice President, Exploration for Greenstone Resources Ltd. responsible for resource delineation on three Central American gold deposits and development of an organization and strategy to identify new mineral investments. Mr. Threlkeld obtained his MSc in Economic Geology from the University of Western Ontario.

Advisory Board

James S. Anthony is the current Chairman of the Board of Seabridge. Jim was an advisor to a number of major corporations and venture capitalists focusing primarily on corporate strategy, and was a policy consultant to several government ministries, before starting up Seabridge in 1999 in partnership with Rudi Fronk. A keen student of economics, his analysis of financial markets contributed to the forming of Seabridge's unique corporate strategy which highlights maximum leverage to a rising gold price. Mr. Anthony's commentaries in the Company's quarterly reports correctly anticipated the nature of the current economic crisis years in advance and predicted a powerful, long term bull market in gold marked by its transition from a commodity to the world's preferred currency. His views on the gold market are valued by many institutional investors worldwide.

Rudi P. Fronk, is a Director, President and CEO of Seabridge Gold. Rudi has over 30 years` experience in the gold business, primarily as a senior officer and director of publicly traded companies. Since 1999, Mr. Fronk has served as President and CEO of Seabridge Gold. During his tenure, Seabridge has been one of the world's best performing gold companies, growing from a penny stock to a current market capitalization in excess of one billion dollars. Prior to Seabridge, Mr. Fronk held positions with Greenstone Resources, Columbia Resources, Behre Dolbear & Company, Riverside Associates, Phibro-Salomon, Amax, and DRX. Mr. Fronk is a graduate of Columbia University from which he holds a Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering and a Master of Science in Mineral Economics.

Mr. Rubenstein has a bachelor of Arts degree from Oakland University and a law degree from the University of British Columbia. Mr. Rubenstein was the Vice President, Corporate Affairs for Sutton Resources from 1995 to 1999; and one of the founders of Canico Resources Corp., where he served as a Director and as Vice President & Corporate Secretary; a founder and director of Cumberland Resources Ltd.; and a director of Aurelian Resources Inc. Mr. Rubenstein retired from his legal practice in 1994 and since that time has been a mining executive and corporate director. Mr. Rubenstein is a Non-Executive Director of Eldorado Gold Corporation, MAG Silver Corp., Detour Gold Corporation, Troon Ventues Ltd. and Rio Nova Gold.

Mr. David Cole is currently the President and CEO of Eurasian Minerals Inc. Mr. Cole has spent 18 years at Newmont, where he held a number of management and senior geologic positions, gaining extensive global experience as a project, mine, and generative exploration geologist in Nevada, Southeast Asia, South America, Europe, and Central Asia. Mr. Cole's success as part of Newmont's exploration team includes contributions at the world class Carlin Trend, Yanacocha, and Minihasa mines. Subsequently, he established and managed Newmont's exploration programs in Turkey while also identifying early stage acquisition targets in Eastern Europe.

The Company also announces that, pursuant to its stock option incentive plan, it has granted certain employees, directors and advisors incentive stock options to purchase 400,000 common shares of the company at an exercise price of today's closing price for a period of 5 years.

The stock options are subject to the terms of the Company's stock option plan and regulatory approval.

ABOUT GOLD STANDARD VENTURES – Gold Standard Ventures is focused on the acquisition and exploration of gold projects in North Central Nevada. Gold Standard currently holds a portfolio of projects totaling approximately 26,000 acres of prospective ground within North Central Nevada of which 15,349 acres comprise the flagship Railroad Gold Project.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Gold Standard,

Jonathan Awde, President and Director

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.