VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 17, 2012) - Premium Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PEM)(OTCQX:PMMEF) ("Premium" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an 8,000 meter infill and definition drill program designed to expand the Friday-Petsite in-pit resources at the Idaho Gold Project. The current resource estimate starts at surface, is comprised of 629,000 oz Au Indicated (21.5 Mt @ 0.91 g/t Au at 0.4 g/t cut-off) and 146,000 oz Au Inferred (5.9 Mt @ 0.77 g/t Au at 0.4 g/t cut-off), and remains open along strike to the north, south and at depth.

Friday-Petsite Infill Program Objectives:

• Definition drilling for additional resources within the current 1.0 km pit-constrained Friday-Petsite resource.
  • Definition drilling within the Main Zone
  • Infill and definition drilling to connect Main & North Zone
• Infill and definition drilling to expand the resource beyond the 1.0 km the pit-constraint.
  • Infill and definition drilling along the additional 0.7 km mineralized strike south

Drilling will begin within the pit-constrained resource and continue along strike to the south, following up on the additional 0.7 km mineralized footprint defined through step-out drilling in 2011 where significant upside remains to define additional resources.

Drilling with one reverse circulation rig is anticipated to begin early November. A total of up to 25 drill holes are planned ranging in depth from 100m to 350m.

Click here for the drill plan map: http://bit.ly/2012FP_Infill_Program

Definition and infill drilling within the 1.0 km pit-constrained Friday-Petsite resource:

The resource is comprised of two mineralized zones; the Main Zone and the North Zone. Mineralization is interpreted to be continuous along strike between the two zones. Drilling will commence within the Main Zone, followed by drilling between the North and Main Zones.

Drilling in the Main Zone will be targeted in areas which lack sufficient drill density or where previous drilling terminated in mineralization. Priority targets include a region in close proximity to discovery holes PFR2009-10, PFR2009-11, and PFR2009-12 released in 2010. These holes returned uncut results of:

Another priority target is the 200m zone of mineralization between the North and Main Zones. Drilling will be focused on connecting these zones into one homogenous deposit following up on step-out drill holes PFR2010-16, PFR2010-17, PFR2011-8, and PFR2011-10. These holes returned uncut results of:

Expansion drilling beyond the current 1.0 km long pit-constrained Friday-Petsite resource:

The 2011 drilling along the Friday Zone successfully demonstrated the growth potential of the Friday-Petsite resource by drilling widely-spaced step-out holes along strike. Premium successfully identified an additional 0.7 km of mineralized strike length of the deposit, which remain open to the north, south, and at depth. The furthest drill holes from the resource estimate, PFR2011-13, 14, and 18 returned uncut results of:

The step-out core holes were orientated east to locate mineralization associated with the west-dipping Friday Fault.

The tighter space reverse circulation infill drilling will be orientated west to determine the width and grade of the mineralized zone, located in the hanging wall of the Friday Fault.

Mineral Resource Estimate Update

Upon the completion of the infill program and the return of all assays, Premium intends to update the resource estimate, estimated for release early Q2 2013.

NI 43-101 Technical Report

Premium's current technical report on the Friday-Petsite Zone along the Company's Idaho Gold Project was prepared for Premium by by Mr. Ronald Simpson, P.Geo, President of Geosim Services Inc. and independent "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). The technical report has an effective date of May 31, 2012 and was filed on SEDAR on August 16th, 2012.

Qualified Person

The Phase-Four exploration program is being directed by Michael Ostenson, P.Geo., VP Exploration of Premium Exploration Inc. Mr. Ostenson is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Ostenson prepared, and approves of the content in this release.

About Premium Exploration Inc.

Premium is focused on the exploration and development of its district-sized Orogrande Shear Zone "OSZ" to fulfill its vision of developing a new mining district in North America. The OSZ is a 30 km-plus regionally-significant trending structure that correlates with multiple known zones of mineralization and has structural control to its gold mineralization, characteristics similar to many large gold belts, such as the Carlin Trend of Nevada. Development is ongoing at the bulk-tonnage Friday-Petsite deposit, the most advanced of several known mineralized zones located along the OSZ and represents 4% of the OSZ under Premium's control. For additional information, please visit us at www.premiumexploration.com.

This press release contains certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Security Exchange Act of 1934, and involves a number of risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time with the TSX Venture Exchange and the British Columbia Securities Commission. All statements, other than of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.