Gold And Silver Production Increased At Hycroft Operations

RENO, NV - Allied Nevada Gold Corp. President and CEO Randy Buffington said, We produced 49,630 ounces of gold and 525,942 ounces of silver and sold 52,176 ounces of gold and 535,407 ounces of silver in the third quarter of 2014. Year to date in 2014 we have produced 166,608 ounces of gold and 1.4 million ounces of silver and sold 168,696 ounces of gold and 1.4 million ounces of silver. Gold and silver ounces sold in the first nine months of 2014 were 39% and 180% higher, respectively, than in the same period in 2013. We anticipate full year metal sales of 220,000 to 230,000 ounces of gold and 1.9 to 2.0 million ounces of silver. As scheduled, we completed a feasibility study for a Hycroft mill expansion in October 2014 that confirmed and improved on the results of the April 2014 prefeasibility study.

Total tons mined, tons crushed, ounces produced, and ounces sold during the first nine months of 2014 significantly increased from the comparable 2013 period. Operational increases were attributable to the heap leach expansion projects completed during the second half of 2013, which included a 21,500 gallons per minute Merrill-Crowe plant, the North leach pad, and the addition of two electric wire rope shovels. In 2014, the only ongoing heap leach expansion project was the crushing system, which, as of June 2014, was operating at a capacity (in terms of throughput) sufficient to support our current heap leach operations. Gold ounces sold during the third quarters of 2014 and 2013 were comparable but increased by 39% (or 47,215 ounces) during the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period of 2013. Silver ounces sold during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 increased by 191% (or 351,325 ounces) and 180% (or 911,322 ounces), respectively, compared to the same periods of 2013.

During the third quarter and first nine months of 2014, our total tons mined slightly exceeded our planned tons by approximately 11% and 5%, respectively, as the mine equipment fleet continued to operate efficiently while working to open up new mining areas for the 2015 mine plan. During the third quarter of 2014, following the June 2014 completion of the temporary repairs to the crushing system, we crushed 1.9 million ore tons. As of November 2014, due to declining metal prices, the decision was made to temporarily shut down the crusher. During the third quarters of 2014 and 2013, our waste to ore strip ratio (excluding stockpiled ore) was 3.7:1 and 0.7:1, respectively, and during the first nine months of 2014 and 2013 our waste to ore strip was 1.7:1 and 0.7:1, respectively. The mining of increased waste tons during the third quarter and first nine months of 2014 resulted in lower third quarter production but was necessary to open up new mining areas for the 2015 mine plan. During the fourth quarter of 2014, we plan on lowering our strip ratio by focusing our efforts on mining increased ore tons with ore grades higher than those mined during the first nine months of 2014.

Although we crushed 1.9 million ore tons during the third quarter, as of November 2014, due to declining metal prices, the decision was made to temporarily shut down the crusher. At current metal prices, we believe the incremental benefit from increased recoveries does not exceed the total costs of running the crusher. Going forward, we plan to monitor metal price levels and our mine plan to identify the point at which we would expect increased revenues from crushed ore would considerably exceed the costs of running the crusher. Until such time, we do not expect to utilize the crusher for our heap leach operations.