Detour Gold Achieves Commercial Production at Detour Lake

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug 14, 2013) - Detour Gold Corp. (TSX:DGC) ("Detour Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to report that its Detour Lake mine reached commercial production on August 12, having operated for a period of 60 consecutive days (commencing June 13, 2013) at an average of 41,428 tonnes per day (tpd).

The Company's definition of commercial production states that commercial production will be declared on the first day of the calendar month following the mill having operated for a period of 60 consecutive days at an average of 75% or more of the designed production capacity, equivalent to 41,250 tpd. Consequently, the Company will commence reporting operating costs as of September 1, 2013.

During the 60 day period, the processing plant processed a total of 2,486,000 tonnes of ore, including 17 days where daily milling rates exceeded 50,000 tpd. For the first 11 days of August, availability improved to 80%. During the last four days of that period, the processing plant operated at an average of 52,900 tpd with an overall availability of 95%, which is closely approaching the nameplate capacity of 55,000 tpd. The ramp-up is also steadily progressing at the mine with mining rates averaging 180,000 tpd (total material mined = overburden, ore and waste) for the first 11 days of August. The Company anticipates that its total cash costs for the post-commercial production period for 2013 will be approximately US$1,100 per ounce as it completes its ramp-up to a more steady state of production (i.e. increasing nameplate capacity from 75% to 90%). Management is now forecasting gold production of approximately 270,000 ounces for 2013.

The Company's focus remains on optimizing operating performance at the mine and mill to achieve near-nameplate capacity by year-end.

"Achieving commercial production is a significant milestone for the Company and one for which all of us at Detour Gold can proudly take credit," commented Gerald Panneton, President and Chief Executive Officer. "I want to personally thank all our employees and contractors for their dedication and hard work during the challenging commissioning period. Reaching this milestone is also a testament to the co-operation obtained from all our stakeholders, especially our aboriginal community partners. We are now seeing steady progress on a daily basis in all facets of our operations and are expecting to see production increase over the coming months."

The Company also reports that it will file its financial results for the second quarter of 2013 on August 14, 2013. Details of the Company's financial results described in the Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis will be available on the Company's website at www.detourgold.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company had reported its second quarter operational update on the Detour Lake mine located in northeastern Ontario on July 9, 2013.

About Detour Gold

Detour Gold is an emerging mid-tier gold producer in Canada. The Detour Lake open pit mine is expected to produce an average of 657,000 ounces of gold annually over a period of 21.5 years. Detour Gold's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol DGC.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains certain forward-looking information as defined in applicable securities laws (referred to herein as "forward-looking statements"). Specifically, this press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company commencing to report operating costs as of September 1, 2013, total cash costs for the post-commercial production period for 2013 of approximately US$1,100 per ounce, gold production of approximately 270,000 ounces for 2013, achieving near-nameplate capacity by year-end 2013, increased production over the coming months and annual production of 657,000 ounces of gold over a period of 21.5 years. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are beyond Detour Gold's ability to predict or control and may cause Detour Gold's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any of its future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, gold price volatility, changes in debt and equity markets, the uncertainties involved in interpreting geological data, increases in costs, environmental compliance and changes in environmental legislation and regulation, interest rate and exchange rate fluctuations, general economic conditions and other risks involved in the gold exploration and development industry, as well as those risk factors discussed in the section entitled "Description of Business - Risk Factors" in Detour Gold's 2012 AIF and in the continuous disclosure documents filed by Detour Gold on and available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Such forward-looking statements are also based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about the following: the availability of financing for exploration and development activities; operating and capital costs; the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled staff; the mine development schedule; sensitivity to metal prices and other sensitivities; the supply and demand for, and the level and volatility of the price of, gold; timing of the receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals for development projects and other operations; the supply and availability of consumables and services; the exchange rates of the Canadian dollar to the U.S. dollar; energy and fuel costs; the accuracy of reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions on which the reserve and resource estimates are based; market competition; ongoing relations with employees and impacted communities and general business and economic conditions. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date hereof, or such other date or dates specified in such statements. Detour Gold undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements contained herein whether as a result of new information or future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. If the Company does update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.