May 12, 2011 Vancouver, Canada -- Fire River Gold Corp. (the "Company", "FAU") (TSX.V: FAU; OTCQX: FVGCF; FSE: FWR) wishes to announce that Timothy G. Smith has been appointed as Vice President, Operations. Mr. Smith has over 32 years' experience in the mining industry. He graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Engineering, Metallurgical, and has worked in copper, coal, gold, lead and zinc operations throughout the U.S. Prior to joining Fire River Gold, Mr. Smith was V.P. of U.S. and Canadian Operations with Apollo Gold where he led the mine start up and mill expansion of the Black Fox Mine located outside of Timmins, Ontario. He was also General Manager of the Montana Tunnels polymetallic mine outside of Helena Montana. Mr. Smith was Operating Manager at Red Dog Mine in Alaska, with Cominco, for 7 years. His operating experience also includes work at the Sullivan (lead/zinc), David Bell (gold), Bullmoose (coal), Afton smelter (copper) and Similco (copper) mines. He is a professional engineer, registered in B.C., and holds dual U.S. and Canadian citizenships.
Richard Goodwin, President and COO, states: "I am very pleased to welcome Tim Smith to Fire River Gold Corp. as our Vice President of Operations. Mr. Smith's qualifications and extensive experience in mining will be a tremendous asset to the Company and his hands-on approach to operations will help us through our start-up".
About Fire River Gold Corp.
Fire River Gold Corp. is a near term production company with an experienced technical team focused on bringing its flagship project, the Nixon Fork Gold Mine, back into production in Summer 2011. The Nixon Fork Gold Mine is a permitted and bonded mine which include a ~200 tpd processing plant with a gravity gold circuit, sulphide flotation circuit and a gold recovery system (CIL circuit) that is scheduled to be completed by Summer 2011. The mine also includes a fleet of surface & underground mining vehicles, a self-contained power plant, maintenance facilities, drilling equipment, an 85 person camp, office facilities and a 1.2 km long landing strip.
Fire River Gold Corp is a member of the International Metals Group.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I look forward to keeping you updated with our corporate developments.
"Richard Goodwin"
Richard Goodwin
President and COO
Certain information regarding the Company including management's assessment of future plans and operations, may constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve risks associated with mining exploration and development, volatility of prices, currency fluctuations, imprecision of resource estimates, environmental and permitting risks, access to labour and services, competition from other companies and ability to access sufficient capital. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. A feasibility study has not been completed and there is no certainty the disclosed targets will be reached nor that the proposed operations will be economically viable. The TSX Venture Exchange or its Regulation Services Provider have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the contents of this news release, which has been prepared by management. We seek safe harbour.