AuRico Metals Reports 2016 Third Quarter Results

Toronto (ots/PRNewswire) -

AuRico Metals Inc. (TSX: AMI), ("AuRico" or the "Company") today
reported its financial results for the quarter ended September 30,
2016. For complete details of the Financial Statements and
associated Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and
nine months ended September 30, 2016, please see the Company's
filings on SEDAR (http://www.sedar.com) or the Company's website
(http://www.auricometals.ca). All amounts are in US dollars unless
otherwise indicated.

Recent Highlights

- During Q3 2016, recognized royalty revenue of $2.3 million,
comprised of $1.0 million from the Fosterville royalty, $1.0
million from the Young-Davidson royalty, and $0.3 million from the
Hemlo, Eagle River and Stawell royalties;
- During the quarter, AuRico Metals' Kemess Underground Project
continued to progress through the Environmental Assessment (EA)
review phase towards targeted government decisions in February,
2017;
- The Company has completed its 2016 exploration program at Kemess
East with 13 holes and 18,544 metres drilled. Results will be
released by mid-November 2016, once final assays are received;
- On August 22, 2016, the Company closed a bought deal equity
financing whereby the Company issued 11,500,000 common shares for
total proceeds of C$11,500,000. In connection with the bought deal
financing, the Company closed a private placement with Alamos Gold
Inc. ("Alamos") as a result of Alamos exercising its participation
right. As a result, the Company issued 1,272,611 common shares for
total proceeds of C$1,272,611;
- During the quarter, the Company completed two Canadian Exploration
Expenses flow-through financings for gross proceeds of $2.7
million. All proceeds have or will be used to fund exploration
expenditures at the Company's Kemess East project; and
- The Company reported $15.4 million (C$20.2 million) in cash and
$14.8 million (C$19.4 million) in working capital, excluding
inventories, at September 30, 2016.

"We are pleased to report our fifth consecutive quarter of record
royalty revenue and our continued advancement through the
Environmental Assessment review for our Kemess Underground Project"
stated Chris Richter, President and CEO. He continued, "We continue
to expect government decisions on the Environmental Assessment in
February, 2017 and are ramping up our permitting efforts at this
time. Within the next two weeks we look forward to releasing the
results of this summer's drill program at Kemess East."

Operations Update

Royalties

The Company estimates quarterly revenue from its royalty assets
based on a combination of production guidance and recent production
of the underlying operations. Revenues are adjusted in the
subsequent quarter to reflect actual royalty payments received,
should they differ from the estimated revenue.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, the
Company recognized revenues from the following royalties:

Year-to-date
(in millions) Q3 2016 2016 Annual
Guidance
Fosterville 2% NSR royalty $1.0 $2.6 $3.4 -
$3.5
Young-Davidson 1.5% NSR royalty $1.0 $2.5 $3.3 -
$3.4
Other royalties $0.3 $0.8 $1.0 -
$1.2
Total $2.3 $5.9 $7.7 -
$8.1

The Company recognized revenue of $1.0 million from the
Fosterville 2% NSR royalty in the three months ended September 30,
2016. In Q3 2016, Fosterville announced Q3 production of 36,967
ounces at a mill grade of 6.91 grams per tonne gold. Total
year-to-date production at Fosterville totals 107,014 ounces for the
nine months ended September 30, 2016. Full year guidance at
Fosterville is total gold production of between 130,000 and 140,000
ounces. In addition, Newmarket reported encouraging drill results at
its Lower Phoenix and Harrier South Gold Systems, both containing
significant high grade gold intercepts containing visible gold
(please refer to the press releases dated September 14, 2016,
September 20, 2016 and October 13, 2016 available on Newmarket's
website at http://www.newmarketgoldinc.com). During the quarter,
Kirkland Lake Gold and Newmarket Gold announced that they have
entered into a definitive agreement to combine the two companies
under Kirkland Lake Gold management.

The Company recognized revenue of $1.0 million from the
Young-Davidson 1.5% NSR royalty in the three months ended September
30, 2016. Underground mining rates at Young-Davidson in Q2 2016
averaged 6,123 tonnes per day ("TPD"), a 6% increase over mining
rates reported in Q1 2016. A total of 42,644 gold ounces were
produced in Q2 2016. Alamos noted that the operation remains on
target to achieve 7,000 TPD by the end of 2016, and this was
anticipated to have a favorable impact on production in the second
half of 2016 (please refer to the press release dated August 10, 2016
available on Alamos' website at http://www.alamosgold.com). Alamos
is scheduled to release their Q3 2016 results on November 10, 2016.

The Company recognized revenue of $0.1 million from the Stawell 1%
NSR royalty during the three months ended September 30, 2016, based
on 8,150 ounces produced (please refer to the press release dated
October 13, 2016 available on Newmarket's website).

The Company recognized revenue of $0.1 million from its 0.25%
royalty on the Williams mine at Hemlo during the three months ended
September 30, 2016. During the quarter, Barrick produced 59,000
ounces at Hemlo, a 13% increase from the 52,000 ounces produced in
the second quarter. Not all production at Hemlo is attributable to
the Company's Williams-Hemlo royalty, therefore, total attributable
production will be less than the Q3 2016 production reported by
Barrick (please refer to the 2016 Q3 Mine Statistics, and the press
release dated October 26, 2016, both available on Barrick's website
at http://www.barrick.com).

The Company recognized revenue of $0.1 million from its 0.5% NSR
royalty on the Eagle River underground mine during the three months
ended September 30, 2016. In Q3 2016, the Eagle River underground
mine reported production of 13,193 ounces. During the quarter,
Wesdome noted that it continues to focus on development of the higher
grade areas of the Eagle River underground mine, and that initial
production from the 7 zone is anticipated in the fourth quarter of
2016 (please refer to the press releases dated September 15, 2016 and
October 12, 2016 available on Wesdome's website at
http://www.wesdome.com).

Kemess Underground

The British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office ("EAO")
initiated the 180 day EA review period on May 11, 2016. On August 2,
the Company sent a letter to the EAO requesting an eight week
extension to the application review period on account of the Company
receiving comments later than anticipated, and to accommodate a
request from our First Nations partners for additional time for
community engagement, which the Company supports. The Company's
request for an extension was granted on August 4, 2016. The EAO is
scheduled to conclude their assessment and submit their report to
provincial and federal ministers for their respective decisions by
the end of the year. These decisions are expected in February, 2017.

During the quarter, the Company developed a draft permit
preparation schedule with the Major Mines Project Office of British
Columbia. The Company has commenced permit preparation with a target
of receiving permits in the second half of 2017.

Kemess East

During 2016, the Company completed an exploration program at the
Kemess East project, which included 13 drill holes and 18,544 metres
of diamond drilling. This drill campaign focused on infilling and
expanding the high grade core of Kemess East identified during the
2015 drill program. The results of this program will be released in
November 2016, once final assays are received.

Near-Term Corporate Objectives

The Company's objectives over the next several months include:

- Pursue potential royalty acquisition opportunities;
- Release results of 2016 drill program at Kemess East (November
2016);
- Release of updated resource estimate at Kemess East (early Q1
2017);
- Progress EA review, permitting and detailed engineering for Kemess
Underground; and
- Continue efforts to reduce care and maintenance costs at the Kemess
site to targeted levels by the end of 2016.

Outlook

The Company is updating its general and administrative and Kemess
East exploration guidance as follows (assuming a 0.75 CAD to USD
exchange rate):

Annual Guidance

(in millions)
Previous Revised
Royalty revenues (pre-tax) $7.7
to $8.1 $7.7 to $8.1
Royalty revenues (after-tax) $6.6
to $7.0 $6.6 to $7.0
General and administrative expense, excluding stock-based
compensation
$2.5 $3.0
Care and maintenance expense
$4.5 $4.5
Kemess Underground project capital expenditures $3.0
to $3.8 $3.0 to $3.8
Kemess East exploration expenditures
$4.4 $4.9

The Company has increased its general and administrative guidance,
excluding stock-based compensation, to a total of $3.0 million from
$2.5 million. The additional costs relate to a number of mostly
non-recurring items, including an internal corporate restructuring,
costs associated with a second shareholders meeting, financial
consulting fees, and corporate development activities.

The Company has increased its guidance on exploration spending at
Kemess East to $4.9 million. Subsequent to the release of its Q2
2016 results, the Company decided to drill an additional 3 holes at
Kemess East, expanding its program to a total of 13 drill holes. The
results of this program will be released by mid-November 2016.

The Company has not revised guidance on royalty revenues or Kemess
Underground project capital expenditures, and expects both amounts to
be at the high end of the ranges noted above.

About AuRico Metals

AuRico Metals is a mining royalty and development company whose
producing gold royalty assets include a 1.5% NSR royalty on the
Young-Davidson Gold Mine, a 0.25% NSR royalty on the Williams Mine at
Hemlo, and a 0.5% NSR royalty on the Eagle River Mine - all located
in Ontario, Canada. AuRico Metals also has a 2% NSR royalty on the
Fosterville Mine and a 1% NSR royalty on the Stawell Mine, located in
Victoria, Australia. Aside from its diversified royalty portfolio,
AuRico owns (100%) the advanced Kemess Gold-Copper Project in British
Columbia, Canada. AuRico Metals' head office is located in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada.

Cautionary Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information as defined under Canadian and U.S.
securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical
fact, are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. The
words "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "will", "intend",
"estimate", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions identify
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include
statements related to the Company's outlook and key deliverables for
Kemess over the next year. These statements are based on a number of
factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by
management at the time of making such statements, are inherently
subject to significant business, economic and competitive
uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could
cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements and the
factors and assumptions underlying them in this document include, but
are not limited to:

- Royalty revenue guidance may be impacted by the performance of the
Young-Davidson, Fosterville, Stawell, Hemlo and Eagle River mines.
Management has based its revenue assumptions on the latest guidance
provided by the operators of these assets, but there is uncertainty
as to whether operators will achieve stated production guidance.
Royalty revenue is also based on an assumed gold price of $1,300
per ounce. The Company's gold price assumption may be inaccurate;
every $50 change in gold price assumption impacts after-tax revenue
by $0.1 million (for the last 3 months of 2016).
- General and administrative expense guidance may be impacted by
changes in foreign exchange rates, employee relations, litigation,
and business opportunities that may be pursued by the Company.
- Care and maintenance expense guidance may be impacted by changes in
foreign exchange rates, employee relations, electricity rates in
British Columbia, weather in the region surrounding the Kemess
site, equipment reliability, quality of service received by vendors
and consultants, and the price of consumables.
- Kemess underground capital expenditures are at the Company's
discretion and will be impacted by changes in foreign exchange
rates, the number of comments or questions raised by First Nations
partners, working group members, and the general public during the
EA review period, additional studies required in order to address
concerns raised and the results of those studies, optimization
efforts by management, and credit market conditions and conditions
in financial markets generally.

The Company has made forward-looking statements relating to
corporate objectives and key deliverables over the next 12 months,
including permitting and the EA, timing of regulatory decisions
relating to permitting and the EA, commencement of detailed
engineering, the Company's ability to fund forecasted cash
shortfalls, the Company's ability to create value for shareholders,
sufficiency of working capital for future commitments, the expected
release of the results of the Kemess East 2016 exploration program,
and other statements that express management's expectations or
estimates of future performance.

Actual results and developments are likely to differ, and may
differ materially, from those expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements contained herein. Such statements are
based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect,
including assumptions about: business and economic conditions;
commodity prices and the price of key inputs such as labour, fuel and
electricity; credit market conditions and conditions in financial
markets generally; development schedules and the associated costs;
ability to procure equipment and supplies and on a timely basis; the
timing and ability to obtain permits and other approvals for projects
and operations including provincial and federal approval of the
environmental assessment application; the ability to attract and
retain skilled employees and contractors for the operations; the
accuracy of reserve and resource estimates; the impact of changes in
currency exchange rates on costs and results; interest rates;
taxation; and ongoing relations with employees and business partners.
The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
applicable law.

Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking
statements made in this press release are qualified by these
cautionary statements.

Other information

The technical information disclosed in this press release relating
to the Kemess Underground project, Kemess East Mineral Resource and
the Company's Young-Davidson and Fosterville NSR royalties has been
approved by Mr. John Fitzgerald, an officer of the Company, who is a
qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.

Please visit the AuRico Metals website at
http://www.auricometals.ca or contact: Chris Richter, President and
Chief Executive Officer, AuRico Metals Inc., +1-416-216-2780,
chris.richter@auricometals.ca; David Flahr, Vice President, Finance,
AuRico Metals Inc., +1-416-216-2780, david.flahr@auricometals.ca

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