Atna Resources Reports Fourth Quarter and 2013 Fiscal Year Results

GOLDEN, Colo., March 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Atna Resources Ltd. ("Atna" or the "Company") (TSX:ATN /OTCQB:ATNAF) today reported audited financial and operating results for the Company's year ended December 31, 2013. Unless otherwise designated, all amounts are in U.S. dollars. Additional details may be found in the MD&A and Financials filed on SEDAR and EDGAR or on our website at www.atna.com.

Financial Highlights for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 with Subsequent Events:

• Atna generated operating cash flows of $8.3 million in 2013, of which $1.5 million was generated in the Fourth Quarter.
• A net, after-tax loss of $49.6 million, ($0.32) per weighted average share, was recognized in 2013, and included long term asset impairments at year-end of $33.1 million, a $10.3 million write-off of deferred tax assets, write-downs in inventory values of $2.6 million, and a write-off of loan fees of $1.1 million.
• The full year operating loss was $1.5 million prior to impairments and write-offs, $0.8 million of which was recognized in the fourth quarter.
• Year-end impairments of $33.1 million were recognized in relation to the Company's Montana mineral rights, exploration properties, Kendall lands and secondary underground development at the Pinson property. 
• As of year-end 2013, cash and cash equivalents were $0.8 million.
• On January 31, 2014, the Company refinanced $22.0 million of current obligations with a 2-year credit facility.

Operating Activities

• Gold sales totaled 36,252 ounces from Briggs and Pinson in 2013 at an average sales price of $1,412 per ounce, relative to 2012 when 36,454 ounces were sold at $1,667 per ounce. Gold sales for the Fourth Quarter 2013 totaled 8,100 ounces at an average price of $1,310 per ounce.
• Briggs produced $15.4 million in operating cash flow and $0.4 million of income before tax and intercompany allocations in 2013. Fourth Quarter 2013 operating cash flow was $3.7 million.
• The average cash cost per ounce at Briggs was $1,042 in 2013 relative to $985 in 2012. The cash cost per gold ounce sold averaged $977 per ounce in Fourth Quarter 2013 and all-in sustaining cost was $1,109 per ounce.
• Briggs mined 11.6 million tons of material in 2013, a 36 percent increase relative to the 8.5 million tons mined in 2012.
• In February 2014, Briggs concluded a year without any lost-time or medical-reportable accidents.
• A total of 30,150 tons of ore mined during development at Pinson was shipped for processing. This ore contained 7,915 ounces of gold, from which 6,834 ounces were recovered.
• A total of 4,100 feet of primary and secondary development was completed at Pinson-underground. The primary spiral was driven to the 4530 level from the 4650 adit level (120 feet below the mine portal) and both top cut and underhand ore mining occurred in three Ogee-zone stope blocks during development.
• In Third Quarter 2013, strong gold recovery was demonstrated by column test work from the Mag open-pit project, adjacent to the Pinson-underground mine. A pre-feasibility study for this project is expected to be released in the first half of 2014.
• The Company concluded an updated resource and reserve estimate in February 2014 for the permitted Reward Gold Project, increasing measured and indicated gold resources by 7 percent to 387,900 contained gold ounces. Inferred resources increased 62 percent to 106,400 ounces.

Conference Call

Management will host a conference call on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, at 11:00a.m. Eastern time, to discuss these results and general corporate and project activities. Participants in the U.S. and Canada dial (877) 559-1977; International callers dial (660) 422-4979. Please reference conference ID # 15031965

A replay of the fourth quarter and year-end call will be available through 5:00p.m Eastern on Friday, March 21, 2014, by dialing (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406, reference conference ID # 15031965

About Atna Resources

Atna is a gold production and development company with a focus in the western US. Atna is producing gold at its Briggs Mine located in Inyo County, California. The Company owns the permitted Pinson underground development stage gold mine near Winnemucca, Nevada and the permitted Reward gold project near Beatty, Nevada. Pre-feasibility study work is being conducted at the Pinson open pit project and at the Columbia gold project located near Lincoln, Montana.   

For additional information on Atna, its mining, development and exploration projects, please visit our website at www.atna.com.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements," as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical fact. They are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include: the Company might encounter problems such as the significant depreciation of metals prices; accidents and other risks associated with mining exploration and development operations; the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors; the Company's need for and ability to obtain additional financing; the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration programs; and the other risk factors discussed in greater detail in the Company's various filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) with Canadian securities regulators and its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's 2013 Form 20-F dated March 14, 2014.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors --- The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms in this report, such as "measured," "indicated," "inferred," and "resources," that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

James Hesketh, President and CEO - (303) 278-8464
Valerie Kimball, Investor Relations - toll free (877) 692-8182
www.atna.com

SOURCE Atna Resources Ltd.