Allied Nevada Gold Corp. ("Allied Nevada", "we", "our" or the
"Company") (TSX:ANV)(NYSE Amex:ANV)(NYSE MKT:ANV) reports
preliminary first quarter 2013 operational results. Hycroft
continues to demonstrate an exemplary track record in the health
and safety departments with no lost time accidents or reportable
environmental incidents in the first quarter of 2013. In the first
quarter of 2013, we placed 9.6 million tons of ore on the leach
pads at average grades of 0.011 ounces per ton gold and 0.142
ounces per ton silver, containing approximately 106,473 ounces of
gold and approximately 1,359,467 ounces of silver, as per
expectation. Mined grades are planned to increase into the second
half of the year. Metal produced in the first quarter of 2013 was
38,019 ounces of gold and 188,000 ounces of silver and we sold
27,256 ounces of gold and 174,766 ounces of silver. In addition to
planned sales in the second quarter of 2013, we currently expect to
sell approximately 7,200 ounces of gold and 43,200 ounces of silver
in the second quarter which remained in precipitate at the end of
the first quarter of 2013 due to retort capacity limitations. With
the successful commissioning of a second retort during the first
quarter, we are now able to process all of the precipitate
generated from our Merrill-Crowe plant.
Flow rates to the leach pads have increased through the first
quarter of 2013 from 9,800 gallons per minute to 13,000 gallons per
minute, and we currently expect to increase that flow rate further
in the next month as planned ore deliveries increase and in
preparation for the start-up of the North Leach Pad. Currently
10,600 gallons per minute of pregnant solution at average grades of
0.01 ounces per ton of gold are being processed through the plants.
This increase is due to the commissioning of the new carbon
columns. We believe we are on track to meet previously disclosed
six month production guidance of 90,000 to 100,000 ounces of
gold.
"Clearly Allied Nevada has underperformed and this unacceptable
performance is the result of unsatisfactory execution of the mine
plan under previous leadership. This lack of acceptable execution
does not imply that the orebody has deficiencies nor does it
suggest that our overall business plan is flawed. As we indicate in
this press release, guidance remains unchanged. The mine is
starting to perform as it should and we currently believe that it
will continue to do so," commented Bob Buchan, Chairman, President
and CEO of Allied Nevada. "We also remain committed to completing
our expansion on time and on budget. So far (58% financially
completed) we are doing that. Allied currently has an excellent
team in place to meet production expectations and is positioned to
build one of the largest mining operations in the state of Nevada.
I am committed to ensuring that they have the resources they need
to do their jobs. While I believe that it will take some time for
these improvements to rebuild investor confidence, I am optimistic
that they will."
Hycroft expansion update
The capital cost estimate for the expansion project remains at
$1.24 billion. To date, we have purchased or have fixed contracts
in place for approximately $720 million, or 58% of the total
capital budget. Management continues to believe that the remaining
capital to be committed of $523 million is sufficient to complete
our expansion project within our estimate of $1.2 billion, with
start-up in the first quarter of 2015.
Foundation construction for the primary, secondary and tertiary
crushers is progressing as planned and we expect to begin
installing major crusher components by the end of the second
quarter of 2013. Plastic liner installation on the lower cells of
the north leach pad is progressing well and over-liner material has
begun to be placed on certain of those cells. The first of three 73
cubic-yard wire rope shovels is being erected and is expected to be
operational in May 2013, ahead of schedule. Major components of the
second wire rope shovel have begun arriving on-site and it is
expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2013. We plan to
issue bid packages for the mill construction in the second quarter
of 2013 and to begin mobilization for prime construction in July
2013. Bids to install the mill sub-foundation are currently being
evaluated and neat line excavation for the foundations has
commenced. We are on track to meet commissioning deadlines for the
north leach pad (late second quarter 2013), Merrill-Crowe plant
(third quarter of 2013) and gyratory crusher (mid-third quarter
2013). The additional capacity of the new Merrill-Crowe plant is
currently expected to bring total solution processing capacity to
33,000 gallons per minute.
We recently announced that Bob Buchan, who has been Chairman of
the Board since inception of the Company, has also assumed the
roles of President and CEO. In addition, we are also strengthening
the operating team at Hycroft with the appointments of Carl
Waggoner, who has joined as Operations Manager and Darren Tinney
who will assume the Process Manager position. Along with Randy
Buffington (EVP & COO), these highly qualified individuals will
lead the operating team as we continue to expand current operations
and construct and operate the milling complex. Carl has more than
thirty years of experience in mining and joins us most recently
from his position of General Manager at Coeur d'Alene Mining's
Rochester mine in Nevada. Prior to that, he served as Manager of
Construction and Engineering at Barrick's Turquoise Ridge Joint
Venture operation in Nevada and earlier worked at BHP Copper,
Komatsu, Asarco and Fluor. Darren has over twenty years of
practical mineral processing experience in: health, safety and
environmental risk management; facility design, startup and
operations; strategic planning and execution; and operations team
building. Darren has extensive experience in every aspect of the
Hycroft Process Division expansion, including crushing, SAG
mill/ball mill grinding, cyanide leaching and carbon adsorption,
flotation and regrinding, heap leach and tailings facility
management. Relevant startup experience includes Barrick's Bald
Mountain mine expansion, BHP Escondida's Phase IV Concentrator, and
Brunswick Mine's AG/SAG mill expansion. Darren joins us from
Barrick Gold Corporation, where he served as Process Superintendent
at their Hemlo, Goldstrike and Bald Mountain mines.
We expect to issue full first quarter 2013 financial results
during the week of May 6, 2013 and will hold our Annual Meeting at
the Design Exchange in Toronto on May 2, 2013.
On Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 9:00 am PT (noon ET), Bob Buchan,
Steve Jones - EVP & CFO and Randy Buffington will hold an open
conference call in which they will discuss recent announcement by
the Company, which will be followed by a question and answer
session.
To access the call, please dial:
Canada & US toll-free - 1-800-814-4860
Outside of Canada & US - 1-416-644-3416
Replay (available until April 23, 2013):
Access code: 4613256#
Canada & US toll-free - 1-877-289-8525
Outside of Canada & US - 1-416-640-1917
An audio recording of the call will be archived on our website
at www.alliednevada.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (and the equivalent under Canadian securities
laws) and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, that are
intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections.
Statements that are not historical fact are forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by, among
other things, the use of forward-looking language, such as the
words "plan," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend,"
"estimate," "project," "may," "will," "would," "could," "should,"
"seeks," or "scheduled to," or other similar words, or the negative
of these terms or other variations of these terms or comparable
language, or by discussion of strategy or intentions. Such
forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements
regarding expected solution processing rates, flow rates,
production rates, gold and silver sales; construction and
implementation of equipment and the timing thereof; the results and
indications of exploration drilling currently underway at Hycroft;
delays in processing gold and silver, the potential for confirming,
upgrading and expanding gold and silver mineralized material at
Hycroft; reserve and resource estimates and the timing of the
release of updated estimates; estimates of gold and silver grades
and recovery rates; anticipated costs, project economics, the
realization of expansion and construction activities and the
budgeting and timing thereof and other statements that are not
historical facts. Forward-looking statements address activities,
events or developments that Allied Nevada expects or anticipates
will or may occur in the future, and are based on current
expectations and assumptions. Although Allied Nevada management
believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions,
it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove
correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements
include, among others, risks that Allied Nevada's exploration and
property advancement efforts will not be successful; risks relating
to fluctuations in the price of gold and silver; the inherently
hazardous nature of mining-related activities; uncertainties
concerning reserve and resource estimates; uncertainties relating
to obtaining approvals and permits from governmental regulatory
authorities; and availability and timing of capital for financing
the Company's exploration and development activities, including the
uncertainty of being able to raise capital on favorable terms or at
all; as well as those factors discussed in Allied Nevada's filings
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC")
including Allied Nevada's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and its
other SEC filings (and Canadian filings) which may be obtained from
us, either directly or from our website at www.alliednevada.com or
at the SEC website www.sec.gov. The Company does not intend to
publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result
of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be
required under applicable securities laws.
The technical contents of this news release have been reviewed
and verified by Dan Moore, Vice President, Technical Services for
Allied Nevada, who is a Qualified Person as defined by National
Instrument 43-101. For additional quality assurance program and the
quality control measures applied, as well as other relevant
technical information in respect of the Hycroft mine, please refer
to our technical report entitled "Technical Report - Allied Nevada
Gold Corp. - Hycroft Mine, Winnemucca, Nevada, USA", dated March 6,
2013, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors -The United States Securities
and Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their
filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that
a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use
certain terms on this website (or press release), such as
"measured," "indicated," and "inferred" "resources," which the SEC
guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from
including in their filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged
to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 10-K which may be
secured from our website or the SEC website at
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
Contacts: Allied Nevada Gold Corp. Bob Buchan Chairman,
President & CEO (775) 358-4455 Allied Nevada Gold Corp. Tracey
Thom Vice President, Investor Relations (775) 789-0119
www.alliednevada.com