Expert Analysis - August 15 Ovais Habib, Scotia Capital (8/15/12) "Argonaut Gold Inc. reported Q2/12 financial results and provided a permitting and provided a permitting update for San Antonio; Q2/12 EPS of
.12 was in line with our estimate of
.13. . .CFPS of
.18 beat our estimate of
.15. . .Q2/12 total cash costs came in at $620/oz, 3% lower than our estimates. . .Argonaut was notified that the environmental permit application for San Antonio project had been denied by SEMARNAT due to zoning issues (industrial vs. non-industrial); no technical or environmental problems were noted by SEMARNAT. . .we now expect final permits in H1/13, a six-month delay. . .we rate Argonaut Sector Outperform."
Rahul Paul, Canaccord Genuity (8/15/12) "We reiterate our Buy rating on Argonaut Gold Inc., which remains a 2012 Focus List pick. We view Q2/12 results as very strong, particularly with costs below our expectations at both El Castillo and La Colorada; the key highlight was solid performance from La Colorada in its very first commercial quarter, with cash costs coming in well below the guided range."