2016 Gold Production and 2017 Outlook

published: 23 January 2017

Centerra Gold Inc. (Centerra) and Kumtor Gold Company announced they had another strong year delivering more than 550,000 ounces of gold production

Gold production at the Kumtor mine was:
– 550,960 ounces*, or 17,136.78 kg, of gold for the full year 2016;
– 200,762 ounces, or approximately 6,244.4 kg, of gold was produced in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The Kumtor mine exceeded the mid-point (540,000 ounces) of Centerra’s favourably revised gold production outlook issued after last year’s third quarter.

2017 Gold Production
Kumtor’s production forecast is expected to be in the range of 455,000 ounces to 505,000 ounces with 30% of the production expected to be in the fourth quarter.

At Kumtor, 2017 total capital expenditures, excluding capitalized stripping, are forecast to be $96 million**. Spending on sustaining capital*** of $68 million relates primarily to major overhauls and replacements of the heavy duty mine equipment ($58 million), major overhauls and replacements of mill equipment ($3 million) and other items ($7 million).

Growth capital*** investment at Kumtor for 2017 is forecast at $28 million and includes the relocation of certain infrastructure at Kumtor related to the life-of-mine expansion plan amounting to $9 million, tailings dam construction ($11 million), purchase of new mining equipment ($4 million), dewatering projects ($2 million) and other items ($2 million). The tailings dam construction in 2017 is the first such construction required to contain the additional 3.6 million ounces of gold reserves that resulted from the KS-13 pit expansion. As such, it is classified as growth capital***. This initial raise is the start of a 3-year program that will not be completed until 2019 (total estimated cost of $32 million). All tailings dam construction prior to 2017 was related to containing tailings that were generated from the approved ore reserve prior to approval of the KS13 pit expansion.

The cash component of capitalized stripping costs related to the development of the open pit is expected to be $172 million of the $234 million total capitalized stripping in 2017.

* – One Troy ounce equals to 31.10348 grammes.
** – Unless specified otherwise, all dollar figures in this news release are in US dollars.
*** – Non-GAAP measure, see discussion under “Non-GAAP Measures” in the Centerra’s MDA filed on SEDAR.
Additional information on Centerra and the full text of the news release are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and the corporate website at www.centerragold.com

About Centerra
Centerra Gold Inc. is a Canadian-based gold mining company focused on operating, developing, exploring and acquiring gold properties in North America, Asia, and other markets worldwide. Centerra is the largest Western-based gold producer in Central Asia. Centerra’s shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol CG. The Company is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Additional information on Centerra is available on the Company’s website at www.centerragold.com and at SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The full text of the press release can be found at http://www.centerragold.com/investor/news-releases

Additional information on Centerra is available on the Company’s web site and at SEDAR.