AuRico Gold Provides an Update on 2011 Exploration Programs

TORONTO, Jan. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – AuRico Gold Inc. (TSX:AUQ) (NYSE: AUQ), (“AuRico” or “AuRico Gold” or
the “Company”) is pleased to provide highlights of the 2011 exploration programs
completed at the Company’s expanded asset base in Canada, Mexico and
Australia. The Company expects to release a company-wide reserve and
resource update in the first quarter of 2012. (Refer to Tables in the Appendix for selected drilling results).

2011 was a transformational year for AuRico Gold, as the Company
diversified its production portfolio through two significant
transactions, acquiring the Young Davidson mine located in Northern
Ontario, Canada, which is scheduled to begin production in late Q1
2012, and the El Chanate mine located in Sonora State, Mexico. The
Company’s growing production profile is also supported by the
significant exploration potential at its expanded portfolio of
properties.

Young Davidson Exploration Highlights

During the year, 23,354 metres (20 holes) of surface drilling and 1,720
metres (4 holes) of underground drilling were completed as part of the
$3.6 million exploration program at Young Davidson(1). Highlights of this program include:

• Further delineation of the Young Davidson (YD) West Zone, which resulted
  in a Measured and Indicated Resource of 536,000 ounces (4.5 M tonnes
  grading 3.72 g/t gold) plus an Inferred Resource of 53,000 ounces (0.5
  M tonnes grading 3.22 g/t gold) that was announced on September 15,
  2011 and is expected to be largely converted to reserve status as part
  of the Company’s Reserve and Resource update.
• Subsequent to the YD West resource estimation, a further six drill holes
  were completed, five of which intersected the YD West Zone. The deposit
  remains open to the west and at depth.
• Confirmation of the continuity of a zone footwall to the Upper Boundary
  Zone that had previously been interpreted as isolated intersections. An
  oblique drill hole YMX11-04 confirms this continuity and returned 4.80
  g/t gold over 15.5 metres.

Recent drilling highlights from the YD West Zone include: (See Figure 1)

• Hole YD11-244, 54.0 metres grading 5.44 grams per tonne gold
• Hole YD11-245, 6.0 metres grading 2.53 grams per tonne gold
• Hole YD11-247, 46.5 metres grading 2.30 grams per tonne gold
• Hole YD11-248, 54.0 metres grading 2.33 grams per tonne gold

The 40,000 metre drilling program proposed for 2012 will primarily focus
on continuing to develop the Young-Davidson West deposit as well as
follow-up drilling on six additional targets that were identified in
2011.

Ocampo Exploration Highlights

During the year the Company completed 71,430 metres (456 holes) of
surface drilling and 67,780 metres (331 holes) of underground drilling
as part of the $26 million exploration program at Ocampo. Highlights of
this program include (See Figure 2):

• Drilling parallel to and eastward along the PGR trend near the current
  Picacho open pit has identified a number of gold bearing vein systems
  (the San Jose, Belen and Altagracia veins) that demonstrate the
  potential of this system to be exploited both by open pit as well as 
  underground mining methods. Open pit development studies are currently
  underway on the upper portion of the high grade San Jose / Belen system
  and this system is expected to be an additional source of mill feed
  ore.
• In addition, a mineralized extension between the Conico and Estrella
  Open Pits has been drilled to 25 metre centers. This area is currently
  being modeled and pit optimization studies are underway. To date, the
  Estrella vein has been surface mapped over 400 metres beyond the any of
  the previous drilling undertaken and the new drilling shows that
  Estrella is now open along strike to the west.
• Drilling from the Santa Eduviges underground mine (located in the
  southwest part of the mine complex) continues to discover significant
  down-dip extensions to the vein systems currently being mined. 2011
  surface exploration drilling has discovered at least three similar
  clavos along the strike of the PGR zone immediately west of the Santa
  Eduviges mine.
• Drilling from the Level 2 mine (a potential third underground mine
  located in the northeast part of the mine complex) has intersected six
  mineralized fault systems parallel to the productive high grade San
  Amado zone. Underground drifting is in progress to establish site drill
  platforms for the Monos and Burrita targets.
• A new style of mineralization, a high sulfidation epithermal system, as
  opposed to the typical low sulfidation epithermal system found at
  Ocampo, has been discovered below the Altagracia deposit at an
  elevation of 1,150 metres with an intersection of 9.9 metres grading
  9.75 g/t gold and 175 g/t silver (13 g/t gold equivalent(2)) 250 meters below current typical working elevations.

Recent drilling highlights include:

Cubiro

• Hole OG-1463, 2.2 metres grading 27.01 g/t gold equivalent(2)

Altagracia

• Hole OU-1487, 9.9 metres grading 13.01 g/t gold equivalent(2 )

Belen – San Jose

• Hole OU-1558, 6.0 metres grading 6.91 g/t gold equivalent(2)
• Hole OU-1481, 2.5 metres grading 15.38 g/t gold equivalent(2)

The 100,000 metre drilling program proposed for 2012 will primarily
focus on the San Jose, San Amado and St Eduviges underground targets.
The surface program will test for new open pittable deposits westward
along the PGR trend (PGR West) and at Cerro Blanco (St Librada SE). The
Cerro Blanco target altered zone hosts surface gold and silver values
over a 1 kilometre long area and over 100 metres wide. There is an
additional substantial-sized target on a parallel zone 300 metres
southwest of Cerro Blanco. Surface rights have been negotiated and an
aggressive drilling program has been initiated.

El Chanate Exploration Highlights

During the year, 38,510 metres of reverse circulation drilling in 177
holes and 5,154 metres of core drilling in 14 holes were completed at
El Chanate as part of the $3.9 million exploration program(3). (See Figure 3). Highlights of this program include:

• Discovery of a new zone of mineralization south of the planned
  heap-leach pads with  hole CHCI-568 intersecting 27.4 metres of 0.50
  g/t gold
• The depth extensions of the presently-planned pit to the south and
  southeast have now been drilled off and results provide encouragement
  that the open pit may be extended further to the southeast and to a
  greater depth
• Exploration was initiated on targets to the northwest of the current pit
  and this work will continue in 2012

Recent drilling highlights include:

• Hole CHCI-482, 70 metres grading 1.28 g/t gold (See Figure 4)
• Hole  CHCI-491, 32 metres grading 0.96 g/t gold
• Hole CHCI-524, 51 metres grading 0.52 g/t gold (See Figure 5)
• Hole CHCI 602, 33.5 metres grading 0.33 g/t gold
• Hole CHCI 511, 45.7 metres grading 0.53 g/t gold

The 27,600 metre drilling program proposed for 2012 will primarily focus
on trend to the northwest and southeast of the current pit as well as
the newly discovered mineralization south of the planned heap leach
pads.

El Cubo Exploration Highlights

During the year, the Company completed 15,790 metres of surface core
drilling in 61 diamond drill holes at El Cubo as part of the $2.0
million exploration program. (See Figure 6). Highlights of this program include:

• The main focus of the drilling program has been to step-out and fill-in
  on the Dolores Vein discovery made in 2009/2010. This is a combined
  vein / sheeted vein deposit typical of the style of mineralization
  mined in this district for the last several hundred years.
• The drilling has successfully delineated a 1,100 metre long deposit that
  has the potential to be mined underground or via an open pit that would
  include a lower grade envelope of mineralized material that appears to
  be amenable to heap leach processing.
• Drilling in the Villalpando Gap target area from surface has cut
  encouraging mineralization that exceeds current cut-off grades and has
  the potential to be mined from existing workings.

Recent drilling highlights include:

Villapondo Gap

• Hole 577, 19.0 metres 1.04 g/t gold, 36 g/t silver, 1.68 g/t gold
  equivalent(2)
• Hole 586, 18.8 metres 1.5 g/t gold, 109 g/t silver, 3.49 g/t  gold
  equivalent(2)

Dolores Capulin (See Figure 7)

• Hole 587, 5.0 metres 1.72 g/t gold, 273 g/t silver, 6.69 g/t gold
  equivalent(2)
• Hole 589, 23.3 m 0.94 g/t gold, 46 g/t silver, 1.77 g/t gold equivalent(2)

The 46,600 metre surface and underground drilling program proposed for
2012 will primarily focus on three principal targets namely, Dolores-La
Loca, Cebolletes and Villalpando Sur.

Other Exploration Projects

During 2011, the Company completed 29,040 metres of drilling at four
other projects in Mexico. Highlights include the discovery of a 700
metre-long vein system called La Balleza, as well as discovering
potentially economic grades of gold-silver mineralization in the
western portion of the Santo Nino Vein. Both discoveries are located on
the company’s Venus property, three kilometres from the Ocampo
property.

“The Company begins 2012 with a high-quality portfolio of assets that
have significant exploration potential. Young Davidson is entering an
exciting phase as the YD West Zone is open in several directions with
clear indications that there is much more potential to unlock. Ocampo
continues to extend and discover new veins which may be exploited by
both open pit and underground mining methods, collectively adding up to
a long life operation. El Cubo and El Chanate have each demonstrated
the existence of new, potentially mineable, areas”, stated René Marion,
President and Chief Executive Officer. He continued, “I would like to
take this opportunity to welcome Chris Rockingham to the AuRico team.
Chris has assumed the role of Vice President of Exploration and
Business Development. Chris has assumed the role from Peter Drobeck who
recently left the company to pursue other interests. During Peter’s
three years with the Company, he successfully built a solid portfolio
of assets and one of the leading exploration teams in Mexico. We are
grateful to Peter for his contributions and wish him well in his future
endeavours.”

Quality Control – Analyses and Sample Location

Details of quality assurance/quality control procedures for sample
analysis and drill hole survey methodology are reported in detail in
the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101″) compliant Technical Reports filed on
SEDAR (www.sedar.com) on August 28, 2009 for Young Davidson. For the exploration projects in
Mexico the surface drilling information has been reviewed by Qualified
Persons Mr. Paul Hohbach at Ocampo and Mr. Peter Drobeck at El Cubo and
El Chanate. Gold analyses for all projects were performed by accredited
commercial laboratories using standard fire assay procedures with an AA
finish. Silver is analyzed using a four-acid digestion with ICP finish,
and fire assays for samples over 100 grams per tonne silver.  The
Company maintains a Quality Assurance – Quality Control program
including the insertion of commercial control reference pulps and
blanks in all its drill programs, along with a dedicated QA-QC person
to monitor results. Sample lengths are not necessarily true widths.

Qualified Persons

The program design, implementation, quality assurance/quality control
and interpretation of the results are under the control of AuRico’s
geological staff, which includes a number of individuals who are
qualified persons as defined under NI 43-101. Carl Edmunds, PGeo, Chief
Geologist, is responsible for the overall supervision of the program at
Young Davidson, Paul Hohbach, AIPG, is responsible for Ocampo
exploration and the El Chanate and El Cubo programs were under the
supervision of Peter Drobeck.

About AuRico Gold

AuRico Gold is a leading intermediate Canadian gold and silver producer
with a diversified portfolio of high quality mines and projects in
Canada, Mexico and Australia. The Company currently has five operating
properties including the Ocampo mine in Chihuahua State, the El Chanate
mine in Sonora State, the El Cubo mine in Guanajuato State, as well as
the Fosterville and Stawell gold mines in Victoria, Australia. The
first production from the exciting Young-Davidson gold mine in northern
Ontario is expected by the end of Q1 2012 as the mine ramps up to over
200,000 ounces of annual production by 2015.  AuRico’s strong pipeline
of development and exploration stage projects includes advanced
development properties in Mexico and British Columbia and several
highly prospective exploration properties in Mexico. AuRico’s head
office is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Cautionary Statement

Certain statements included herein, including information as to the
future financial or operating performance of the Company, its
subsidiaries and its projects, constitute forward-looking statements.
The words ”believe”, ”expect”, ”anticipate”, ”target”,
”continue”, ”estimate”, ”may”, and similar expressions identify
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, among
other things, statements regarding anticipated future financial and
operational performance, the ability to continue to fund expansion and
exploration operations through cash flows, the ability to realize the
perceived benefits of the acquisition of Northgate, the ability of
Young-Davidson to be in production at the end of Q1 2012 and to
achieve over 200,000 ounces of production by 2015, the future price of
gold and silver and the ratio of their prices, the de-risking of
operations, future exploration results of its exploration and
development programs and the success of the Company’s exploration
approaches, the Company’s ability to delineate additional resources and
reserves as a result of such programs, statements regarding its
financial exposure to litigation, targets, estimates and assumptions in
respect of gold and silver production and prices, operating costs,
results and capital expenditures, mineral reserves and mineral
resources and anticipated grades, recovery rates, future financial or
operating performance, margins, operating and exploration expenditures,
costs and timing of completion of the Ocampo expansion program and
improvements to the heap leach pad, costs and timing of the development
and commencement of production of new deposits, costs and timing of
construction, costs and timing of future exploration and reclamation
expenses including, anticipated 2011 results, operating performance
projections for 2011, our ability to fully fund our business model
internally, 2011 gold and silver production and the cash and operating
costs associated therewith, the ability to achieve productivity and
operational efficiencies, and the timing of each thereof.
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of
estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the
Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic,
competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. The
operating and financial performance of the Company will be affected by
changes in the actual gold equivalency ratio realized in 2011. Many
factors could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made
by, or on behalf of, the Company. Such factors include, among others,
known and unknown uncertainties and risks relating to additional
funding requirements, reserve and resource estimates, commodity prices,
hedging activities, exploration, development and operating risks,
illegal miners, political and foreign risk, uninsurable risks,
competition, limited mining operations, production risks, environmental
regulation and liability, government regulation, currency fluctuations,
recent losses and write-downs, restrictions in the Company’s loan
facility, dependence on key employees, possible variations of ore grade
or recovery rates, failure of plant, equipment or process to operate as
anticipated, accidents and labour disputes. Investors are cautioned
that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance and, accordingly, investors are cautioned not to put undue
reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty
therein.

1. The Company acquired the Young-Davidson mine through its acquisition of
   Northgate Minerals Corporation on October 26, 2011. Drilling metres and
   drilling results reported in this press release are for the full year
   2011.
2. Using the Company’s long-term gold equivalency ratio of 55:1.
3. The Company acquired the El Chanate mine through its acquisition of
   Capital Gold Corporation on April 8, 2011. Drilling metres and drilling
   results reported in this press release are for the full year 2011.

SOURCE AuRico Gold Inc.

PDF with caption: “Figure 1: Long Section of YD West Zone (250A and 251A are in progress)”. PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/01/09/20120109_C2650_DOC_EN_8706.pdf

PDF with caption: “Figure 2: Ocampo Plan Map”. PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/01/09/20120109_C2650_DOC_EN_8707.pdf

PDF with caption: “Figure 3: El Chanate 2011 Drilled Holes”. PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/01/09/20120109_C2650_DOC_EN_8708.pdf

PDF with caption: “Figure 4: Section NE33/03″. PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/01/09/20120109_C2650_DOC_EN_8709.pdf

PDF with caption: “Figure 5: Section NE33/31″. PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/01/09/20120109_C2650_DOC_EN_8710.pdf

PDF with caption: “Figure 6: Geology and Drill Hole Location Map from the Dolores – Capulin portion of the El Cubo Mine”. PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/01/09/20120109_C2650_DOC_EN_8713.pdf

PDF with caption: “Figure 7: El Cubo Section”. PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2012/01/09/20120109_C2650_DOC_EN_8712.pdf