Ocampo

AuRico Gold has a 100% interest in the Ocampo gold-silver operation, which is located in Chihuahua State, Mexico. Commissioned in January 2007, the mine covers over 15,000 hectares and is one of the largest gold-silver mines in the state.

Ocampo is our flagship asset. It comprises an open pit and and two underground mines. At the end of 2010, the North-East underground mine was averaging over 1,700 tonnes per day. The newly commissioned Santa Eduviges underground is expected to contribute approximately 500 tonnes per day of mill feed.

The Ocampo facilities include a Merrill-Crowe mill capable of processing 3,200-3,300 tonnes per day and a heap leach pad that was recently expanded and converted to a valley fill leach design. This innovation increased stacking capacity and has mitigated the impact of the annual rainy season.

Geology

Ocampo is located in the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO). This vast physiographic province is composed largely of volcanic rocks that have been intruded by plutonic rocks that overlie a Precambrian-through-Jurassic basement.

Volcanic stratigraphy in the SMO is divided into two main groups:

• Lower Volcanic Group (LVG): These rocks dominate the project area, and consist of massive andesitic flows and tuffs. Localized beds of volcanoclastic sediments are also present. Toward the top of the LVG, the volcanics become more felsic. The LVG hosts the majority of the silver and gold deposits exploited thus far in the SMO.
• Upper Volcanic Group (UVG): These are comprised of felsic ignimbrites, tuffs, flows, and volcanoclastics. Overall, there is a northwest trending structural fabric best evidenced by the alignment of the SMO’s numerous mining districts.

Mineralization

Ocampo is a classic gold-silver epithermal mining district, which can be divided into two major structural areas: the Northeast Area and the Plaza de Gallos Refugio Trend. The mineralogy and alteration present in both areas are indicative of low sulphidation, quartz adularia-type epithermal systems.

Exploration

We are pursuing an aggressive and strategic exploration program at Ocampo, and there is significant potential yet to be realized.

This exploration program – AuRico’s most extensive – includes the following components:

• Underground drifting and drilling to extend known veins;
• In-pit drilling to extend and better define deposits in and around the open pits;
• Surface brownfields exploration to discover new ore bodies in existing mineral properties.

Our Ocampo exploration program has already increased reserves in addition to identifying numerous new discoveries and exploration targets. In 2011, we plan to carry out a major $27-$29 million strategic exploration program to build on this success.