VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eldorado Gold Corporation, (“Eldorado” or “the Company”) today announces the Company’s fourth quarter and full year 2018 production results and preliminary cash costs. The Company will provide its full year 2019 guidance in conjunction with its 2018 Year End Results.

Highlights
? Solid full year gold production of 349,147 ounces of gold (2017: 292,971 ounces) including pre-commercial production from Lamaque; exceeded original 2018 production guidance of 290,000–333,000 ounces of gold.
? Strong fourth quarter gold production of 75,877 ounces of gold (Q4 2017: 84,054 ounces) including pre-commercial production from Lamaque.
? Full year cash operating costs expected to be $621 per ounce of gold sold1 (2017: $509 per ounce sold), in-line with revised guidance of $600-$650 per ounce sold.
? All in sustaining costs (AISC) expected to be $990 per ounce sold for the full year (2017: $922 per ounce sold).
? Continued solid financial liquidity. Closed the year with total liquidity of approximately $543 million, including $293 million in cash, cash equivalents and term deposits, and $250 million in undrawn line of credit.
? Lamaque commissioning underway. Commercial production on track to be declared in the first quarter of 2019. Commissioning of the Sigma Mill proceeded ahead of schedule with the first gold pour achieved in December 2018.

“In 2018, Eldorado successfully met its overall production goals, which included two upward revisions to production guidance. These positive results reflect solid execution by the team and better-than-expected leach pad production at Kisladag. In addition, underground mine development and refurbishment of the Sigma Mill at Lamaque proceeded according to plan and we expect to commence commercial production at Lamaque in the first quarter of 2019,” stated George Burns, Eldorado's President and CEO.

“The Olympias team made good progress addressing challenges relating to the blending of the ore feed to the mill and start-up of the newly installed paste plant. Ore feed blending impacted metallurgical performance and contributed to lower second half production and higher costs. With better control of the blend anticipated, we expect 2019 to be a better year for both mining and processing at Olympias.

Overall, our progress through the year has been substantial as we continue to make decisions about our portfolio to create maximum value.”

[1] Throughout this press release we use cash operating cost per ounce sold, total operating cost per ounce sold and all-in sustaining cost per ounce sold, which are non-IFRS measures. Please see the Company’s September 30, 2018 MD&A filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com for an explanation and discussion of these non-IFRS measures. All dollar amounts in US$, unless stated otherwise.

Gold Operations Results


Q4 2018 Q4 2017 Q3 2018 2018 2017
Total
Production (oz) 75,887 84,054 84,783 349,147 292,971
Cash Operating Cost – C1 ($/oz sold) 605 577 754 621 509
Total Operating Cost – C2 ($/oz sold) 645 603 762 646 534
AISC ($/oz) 1,180 1,104 1,112 990 922
Kisladag
Production (oz) 28,196 44,356 34,070 172,009 171,358
Cash Operating Cost – C1 ($/oz sold) 547 604 890 662 500
Total Operating Cost – C2 ($/oz sold) 586 626 892 683 522
Non-cash Inventory Costs ($/oz sold)a 188 - 619 308 -
Sustaining Capex ($ million) 4.2 11.4 3.3 18.0 27.9
Efemcukuru
Production (oz) 23,544 25,463 24,493 95,038 96,080
Cash Operating Cost – C1 ($/oz sold) 535 525 456 511 524
Total Operating Cost – C2 ($/oz sold) 582 559 471 540 556
Sustaining Capex ($ million) 9.1 13.1 5.7 24.0 28.9
Olympias
Production (oz) 8,101 7,174b 12,790 46,750 18,472b
Cash Operating Cost – C1 ($/oz sold) 1,070 n/a 1,058 730 n/a
Total Operating Cost – C2 ($/oz sold) 1,092 n/a 1,071 759 n/a
Sustaining Capex ($ million) 3.9 n/a 3.1 12.0 n/a
Lamaque
Production (oz) 16,046b 7,061b 13,430b 35,350b 7,061b
Cash Operating Cost – C1 ($/oz sold) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Total Operating Cost – C2 ($/oz sold) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Sustaining Capex ($ million) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

a Allocates the costs of the heap leach inventory over the estimated remaining ounces
b Pre-commercial production

About Eldorado Gold
see & read more on
https://www.eldoradogold.com/news-and-media/news-releases/press-release-details/2019/Eldorado-Gold-Announces-Q4-and-Full-Year-2018-Production-and-Cash-Costs/default.aspx