Argonaut Gold Inc. ("Argonaut Gold" or the "Company") (TSX:AR),
announced today that the Company produced 16,884 ounces of gold
during the 3rd quarter of 2011 (ended September 30, 2011) at its
100% owned El Castillo Mine ("El Castillo"), located 100 km north
of the city of Durango, Mexico.
THIRD QUARTER 2011 HIGHLIGHTS:
Operations
-- Continued greater than 1.5 million total tonnes mined per month
-- 29,997 ounces loaded on the pad, 24% increase over Q3 2010
-- Gold production of 16,884 ounces, 33% increase over Q3 2010
-- Finalized agreement with the Company's mining contractor to expand the
mining fleet from 13 to 16 trucks with 100 tonne capacity
-- Two additional trucks on site in October
-- One additional truck and one loader to be added into production in
November
-- Finalized an agreement expanding surface rights on the western side of
the property by 100 hectares, for an increase in overall surface rights
to 1385 hectares.
El Castillo East Side Expansion Program
-- West crusher relocated to east side for consolidated crushing circuit
with design capacity of 500,000 tonnes per month ("TPM")
-- East side pad loading initiated and east carbon plant operational in
October with the ramp up to continue thru Q4 of 2011
2011 Project Highlights
-- El Castillo - 1,800 metre core drill program completed to obtain
sulphide samples for metallurgical test work
-- San Antonio - Advancements made on land and water purchases, as well as
significant progress on environmental studies
-- 10,242 metres of drilling complete across 71 holes
-- Ongoing drill programs with 2 drill rigs running
(1 exploration and 1 metallurgical)
-- La Colorado - 52,000 metre drill program continues
-- 33,214 metres complete across 195 holes
-- Ongoing drill program with 3 drill rigs running
(2 core and 1 reverse circulation drill)
-- Resource report by SRK & Associates of Denver expected by the end of
October
THIRD QUARTER 2011 OPERATING RESULTS:
The third quarter operating statistics showed improvement over
the prior year as well as year to date. Ore production has
continued at an annualized rate of more than 11 million tonnes. The
west side crusher was disassembled and relocated on the east side
of the property to provide a centralized crushing facility with a
capacity of 500,000 TPM. The east pad and the east side carbon
plant (a duplicate plant of the west side facility with a name
plate capacity of 500,000 TPM capacity) were commissioned in
October. Production is still expected to finish the year at
approximately 70-75,000 ounces with a $575-$600 cash cost.
Recovery rate was 56% for the quarter, up from the prior year's
rate of 53% but slightly lower than last quarter. This was a result
of higher stacking lifts, downtime associated with moving the
crusher and some cyanide shortages at the beginning of the quarter.
(Recovery rate is defined as ounces produced over ounces loaded to
pads.)
During Q3 of 2011, 13,260 ounces of gold were sold. At September
30, 2011, a large inventory of approximately 6,200 gold ounces from
Q3 were on hand and had not been sold, primarily due to volatility
in the gold price. The Company sold 6,192 of these ounces in
October at an average price of $1,658 per ounce, or roughly $10
million additional cash.
El Castillo Operating Statistics
3 Months Ended September 30 9 Months Ended September 30
% %
2011 2010 Change 2011 2010 Change
--------------------------------------------------------
Mining
--------------------
Total tonnes mined 4,841,620 4,749,610 +2% 14,571,913 11,093,516 +31%
Tonnes ore mined 2,908,150 2,013,668 +44% 8,232,763 5,197,406 +58%
Heap Leach Pad
--------------------
Direct ore tonnes to
pad 2,282,601 1,675,504 +36% 6,016,269 4,237,532 +42%
Crushed ore tonnes
to pad 612,548 369,275 +66% 2,201,941 954,559 +131%
Production
--------------------
Gold grade (g/t) 0.32 0.37 -14% 0.33 0.37 -11%
Gold loaded to pad
(oz) 29,997 24,202 +24% 87,777 60,744 +45%
Gold loaded to
carbon (oz) 16,884 12,724 +33% 52,351 33,032 +59%
Gold sold 13,260 7,994 +66% 46,052 26,779 +72%
(1) "g/t" is grams per tonne
(2) "oz" means ounce
Pete Dougherty, President and CEO of Argonaut Gold noted:
"Quarterly gold production provided meaningful ounces towards our
guidance for the year and was slightly impacted by the pad height
on the west pad, cyanide availability and the relocation of the
crushing circuit to the east side. To date 2011 has shown great
promise for Argonaut Gold; key initiatives were completed to
provide flexibility in our production profile with the
commissioning of the east side plant, construction of heap leach
pads, adding new equipment to the mining fleet and finally
expanding our land position by 100 hectares to the west."
About Argonaut Gold
Argonaut Gold is a Canadian gold company engaged in exploration,
mine development and production activities. Its primary assets are
the production-stage El Castillo Mine in the State of Durango,
Mexico, the advanced exploration stage San Antonio project, the
past producing and advanced exploration stage La Colorada project,
and several exploration stage projects, all of which are located in
Mexico.
Creating Value Beyond Gold
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ
materially from management's current expectations. Actual results
may differ materially due to a number of factors. Except as
required by law, Argonaut Gold Inc. assumes no obligation to update
the forward-looking information contained in this news release.
Qualified Person
Preparation of this release was supervised by Thomas Burkhart,
Argonaut Gold's Vice President of Exploration, and a Qualified
Person under NI 43-101. For additional information on El Castillo
please refer to the "NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources and
Reserves, Argonaut Gold Inc., El Castillo Mine, Durango State,
Mexico" dated Nov. 6, 2010 and available at Argonaut Gold's website
and profile on www.sedar.com.
Contacts: Argonaut Gold Inc. Nichole Cowles Investor Relations
Manager (775) 284-4422 x
101nichole.cowles@argonautgoldinc.comwww.argonautgoldinc.com
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