American Bonanza Provides Copperstone Gold Mine Progress for April 2013

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/28/13 -- American Bonanza Gold Corp. (TSX: BZA) (OTCQX: ABGFF) ("Bonanza" or "Company") is pleased to announce progress at the 100% owned Copperstone gold mine in Arizona during April 2013.

April experienced steady progress towards design rates as the focus on mine planning yielded higher ore grades, increased development footage, further production footage, and slightly higher recovery figures than March. Early indicators show that this trend continues in May with 718 Oz of gold shipped in the first twenty days of May 2013.


Production Summary (see below for detailed breakdown of figures)

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Development Mining     January '13   February '13    March '13    April '13
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Zones                  less than 4              7            6            5
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Development mined          146 t/d        253 t/d      167 t/d      291 t/d
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Ore Mining
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Total rock mined           463 t/d        562 t/d      474 t/d      622 t/d
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Ore mined                  317 t/d        308 t/d      347 t/d      331 t/d
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Rounds per day
 mined                           5            4.3          5.2          4.9
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Ore Processing
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Ore processed              322 t/d        315 t/d      333 t/d      346 t/d
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Mill recovery                   82%            86%          80%          81%
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Concentrates
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Gravity
 concentrate              15 Oz/ t        47 Oz/t      34 Oz/t      30 Oz/t
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Flotation
 concentrate               23 Oz/t        30 Oz/t      18 Oz/t      27 Oz/t
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Gold shipped                520 Oz         878 Oz       670 Oz       815 Oz
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Ore Mining

- 827 feet of ore was mined, which is 11% more than March. The mine
performed at an average of 4.9 rounds of mining progress per day.

- Total ore mined for April was 331 t/d. Mine production levels decreased
slightly from March as the focus during the month was to catch-up on
development mining. Increasing backfill productivity is a focus for May
in order to increase production levels towards the target design rate.


Development Mining

During April the results of the new mining plan, announced in March, saw an increase of 56% relative to the previous month in development footage, to 827 feet during April.


Ore Processing

- The milled tons increased in April from 10,322 in March to 10,393.

- The grade also improved to 0.0969 in April - from 0.0808 in March.

- Mill recovery during April averaged 81%. Whilst the recovery rate showed improvement, it is expected that higher recovery rates will be attained once the improvement in the head grade is achieved as a result of the new mine planning.


Concentrates

815 ounces of gold were shipped during April, and 718 ounces were shipped during the first twenty days of May. This is due to the increased focus on geology and assay results to limit dilution of higher grade ore, and as a result of the revised mine planning activity.


Mr. Brian Kirwin, President & CEO, commented:

"The impact of the new mining approach is beginning to take effect, and early indicators show that May started off positively. The priority is to continue to develop more ore headings while improving the head grade going to the mill. With this sustained focus by our engineering and geology departments, we are working hard to achieve design rates, and thereby commercial production, as soon as possible."

Mine and mill performance for the month of May will be announced towards the end of June.

The Company announces the resignation of Mr. Giulio Bonifacio as director of Bonanza. Mr. Bonifacio is reducing his directorships in order to focus on his other business interests. Mr. Bonifacio's knowledge and experience were invaluable to the development of the Company. We thank him for his many years with Bonanza and wish Mr. Bonifacio continued success in all of his business endeavours.


About American Bonanza Gold Corp:

Bonanza is operating the newly constructed Copperstone gold mine in Arizona. For more information please visit Bonanza's website at www.americanbonanza.com.


AMERICAN BONANZA GOLD CORP.

Brian Kirwin
President & Chief Executive Officer



We seek safe harbour.



Contacts:

American Bonanza Gold Corp.
James Bagwell
1-877-688-7523

American Bonanza Gold Corp.
Emma Nicholson
+44-207-993-6975
info@americanbonanza.com
www.americanbonanza.com