Argonaut Gold Inc (AR)

[gsfl]

ARGONAUT GOLD ANNOUNCES NEW CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Toronto, Ontario - (December 14, 2011) Argonaut Gold Inc. (TSX: AR) (“Argonaut Gold”,
“Argonaut” or the “Company”) has named Mr. Richard Rhoades as the new Chief Operating
Officer for the Company. This is in conjunction with the retirement of Mr. Edgar Smith, the
current COO. Mr. Rhoades is the former General Manager of the Mission Complex in Sahuarita,
AZ for Asarco LLC. He will take over duties as Argonaut’s COO on January 3, 2012.
Mr. Rhoades has over 35 years’ experience in mine development, operations and corporate
management roles. In addition to diverse operational experience, he has managed
responsibilities in a corporate capacity, serving as the Assistant to the Vice President of Mining
and the Director of Mine Planning for Asarco. Throughout his career, Mr. Rhoades has focused
on productive operations, safety, training, process optimization, efficient capital allocation and
ore reporting. Mr. Rhoades holds a bachelor's degree in mining engineering from the University
of Arizona. He is also a Registered Professional Engineer (mining).
Mr. Peter Dougherty, President & Chief Executive Officer of Argonaut Gold in regards to Edgar
Smith’s retirement stated: “Edgar has been instrumental in the development and growth of the
Company since its inception. On behalf of Senior Management and the Board, I thank Edgar for
his enormous contribution to the formation of Argonaut Gold. Edgar will continue to provide
guidance in an advisory role for Argonaut’s future growth and development”
Mr. Dougherty also noted, in reference to adding Mr. Rhoades to the Argonaut team, "We are
very pleased to have Richard join Argonaut Gold. We welcome his addition to the senior
management team, and appreciate the unique versatile technical expertise his experiences will
contribute to Argonaut.”