Wheels Group Inc GRFJF

2008 Production on Target

[munroe]

Western Goldfields Announces 2008 Production on Target 16:30 EST Thursday, December 13, 2007 << - Heap leaching of new ore has commenced at Mesquite - Gold production is on target for January 2008 - Capital costs are in line with forecast >> TORONTO, Dec. 13 /CNW/ - Western Goldfields Inc. (TSX:WGI, AMEX:WGW) today announced that heap leaching of new ore has commenced at its Mesquite Mine in California. To date, 900,000 tons of new ore containing approximately 12,500 ounces of gold have been placed on the leach pad and gold production is on target forJanuary 2008. "We are extremely pleased with the performance of our operations and construction teams who have brought the project in three months ahead of the feasibility schedule and on budget," saidMr. Randall Oliphant, Chairman, Western Goldfields. "Our current capital forecast is within one percent of our original estimate." "Our prestrip mining and construction of the leach pad and facilities is on schedule to bring the mine into full production in January 2008," saidMr. Raymond Threlkeld , President and Chief Executive Officer. "The last haul truck of our 14-truck fleet arrived this week. We have 177 employees and are currently mining approximately 180,000 tons per day. In 2008, we expect to place approximately 220,000 ounces onto the leach pad." During 2008, the Mesquite Mine will ramp up production as the operation continues with prestripping, exposing the ore zones and mining of the oxide reserves. Based on the mining schedule and the leaching curve, Mesquite is expected to produce approximately 15,000 ounces of gold in the first quarter. Second quarter production will increase to between 40,000-50,000 ounces of gold, and full year's production for 2008 is expected to be between 155,000-165,000 ounces of gold. The average cost of sales for the year is expected to be between $355-$365(1) per ounce of gold. Quarterly operating costs are predominantly fixed and, due to the ramping up of gold production in the first quarter, cost of sales per ounce in the first quarter will be significantly higher than the 2008 estimate. In later quarters, the costs will be below the forecast average cost per ounce. The increase in cost of sales from previous estimates is due to current higher fuel costs as well as increased royalty costs based on the current higher gold price. Fuel costs comprise approximately 25% of the cost of sales. Capital costs are estimated at $109.2 million compared to an original estimate of $108.6 million. With approximately 99 percent of the capital committed and 92 percent spent, the Company is confident that the final project capital will remain consistent with its current forecasts. Capital spending for 2007 is estimated to be$100.0 million, and the remainder of the $109.2 million will be spent in the first quarter of 2008 when the leach pad, processing facility and truck shop are completed. During 2008, approximately $1.0 million will be spent on additional definition and exploratory drilling of the Brownie Hill deposit, where approximately 200,000 ounces of gold were added into reserves in 2007. The drilling will be focused on the follow up of significant mineralization found outside the current reserve area at Brownie Hill. The data contained in this news release has been prepared under the supervision of Wes Hanson, P. Geo., Vice-President of Mine Development, Western Goldfields, and the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 for the project. Western Goldfields Inc. ----------------------- Western Goldfields is a gold producer focused on completing the expansion of its Mesquite Mine, located in Imperial County, California, and returning the mine to full production. With a 2.8 million ounce gold reserve, the Company is the only multi-million ounce US gold reserve not controlled by a major gold company. Western Goldfields common shares trade on theToronto Stock Exchange under the symbol WGI, and on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol WGW. For further details, please visitwww.westerngoldfields.com.

[nijinsky70]

Hopefully AGI's SP would rebound tomorrow because of this late news. This stock has been pretty beat up of late.

[thedave2006]

good news....dave.

[loantech1]

I am waiting for the actual in production announcement and an acquisition but here are some of the key parts of that NR IMO. Their math is bad. Pages 25-26 of the presentation shows average historical grade: https://www.westerngoldfields.com/i/pdf/2007-11-23_presentation.pdf .0163 ounces per ton = 14,670 ounces. Read this: https://www.secinfo.com/d171Yu.v1zz.d.htm 80% of

[loantech1]

Forgot this: Initial test work from the Mesquite Vista pit non-oxides conducted by Newmont Metallurgical Services indicated a recovery of gold in concentrate of more than 80 percent, suggesting excellent potential for enhanced gold recovery from a gravity and flotation circuit program

[geno]

These guys say what they are going to do and then do it. Can you imagine a project coming in on budget these days. Awesome. Ahead of schedule yet. I think you are closer with your numbers than they are. But they are careful not to underperform their numbers. Their history on their project proves that. We lucked into a class company management here. Holding long term and expecting to do

[loantech1]

geno I agree my biggest holding and a great company and conservative. I can hold and sleep well at night but then again I really do not sleep that well. LOL. Not WGW/WGI's fault. LOL.