New Pacific Reports Financial Results for the Period Ended March 31, 2013; Appoints New Director

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 13, 2013) - New Pacific Metals Corp. ("New Pacific" or the "Company") (TSX:NUX) today announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2013. The Company also announced the appointment of Mr. Fengzeng Yan to the Board of Directors of New Pacific.

This earnings release should be read in conjunction with the Company's Management Discussion & Analysis, Financial Statements and Notes to Financial Statements for the corresponding period, which have been posted on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and are also available on the Company's website at www.newpacificmetals.com. All figures are expressed in Canadian Dollars (CAD) unless otherwise stated.

THIRD QUARTER FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For the quarter ended March 31, 2013, the Company reported net income attributable to equity holders of $8,049 or $0.0001 per share compared to a net loss of $922,170 or $0.014 per share in the same prior year period.

Excluding effects from foreign exchange and other non-cash expenses, the Company recorded cash expenses of $373,961 in the current quarter compared to $479,094 in the same prior year period. The reduction in expenses was due to a decrease in general expenses as the Tagish Lake Gold project remained in care and maintenance in the quarter; this was offset by additional general exploration expenses as the Company explored other strategic alternatives. In addition, there was also a decrease in G&A for the current quarter compared to the same prior year period.

As at the end of the quarter, the Company had $26.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and short term investments.

APPOINTMENT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

New Pacific is pleased to appoint Mr. Fengzeng Yan to the Company's Board of Directors, pending regulatory approval. A geologist by profession, Mr. Yan has over 30 years of experience and prior to his retirement in 2011 he was the Chief Geologist at The Gold Headquarters for 11 years. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Geology with a major in Mineral Exploration and a Masters Degree in Economic Geology from Changchun College of Geology as well as a MBA from Florida State University. Currently Mr. Yan is Vice Chairman of the China Gold Association and Vice President of the Geological Society of China.

ABOUT NEW PACIFIC

New Pacific is a Canadian gold and silver exploration and development company which owns the Tagish Lake gold project in Yukon, Canada and the RZY Project in Qinghai Province, China.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain of the statements and information in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities laws. Any statements or information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "is expected", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategies", "targets", "goals", "forecasts", "objectives", "budgets", "schedules", "potential" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information relate to, among other things: the price of silver and other metals; the accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates at the Company's material properties; the sufficiency of the Company's capital to finance the Company's operations; estimates of the Company's revenues and capital expenditures; timing of receipt of permits and regulatory approvals; availability of funds from production to finance the Company's operations; and access to and availability of funding for future construction, use of proceeds from any financing and development of the Company's properties.

Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, risks relating to: fluctuating commodity prices; calculation of resources, reserves and mineralization and precious and base metal recovery; interpretations and assumptions of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; exploration and development programs; feasibility and engineering reports; permits and licences; title to properties; First Nations title claims and rights; property interests; joint venture partners; acquisition of commercially mineable mineral rights; financing; recent market events and conditions; economic factors affecting the Company; timing, estimated amount, capital and operating expenditures and economic returns of future production; integration of future acquisitions into the Company's existing operations; competition; operations and political conditions; regulatory environment in Canada; environmental risks; insurance; risks and hazards of mining operations; key personnel; conflicts of interest; dependence on management.

This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, those referred to in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended June 30, 2012 under the heading "Risk Factors". Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

The Company's forward-looking statements and information are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this press release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements and information if circumstances or management's assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information.