AuRico Gold Announces Date Of Special Shareholder Meeting

TORONTO, Sept. 8, 2011 /CNW/ --
TORONTO, Sept. 8, 2011 /CNW/ - AuRico Gold Inc. ('AuRico') (TSX: AUQ) announces that it has called a special meeting
(the 'Special Meeting') of its shareholders to be held in Toronto,
Ontario on October 14, 2011.

The purpose of the Special Meeting is to consider a resolution to
approve the issuance of the AuRico common shares to Northgate security
holders (the 'Share Issuance Resolution') in connection with the
Arrangement (as hereinafter defined). The special meeting of AuRico
shareholders is being held concurrently with the meeting of Northgate
shareholders, which has been called to consider the Arrangement.

On August 29, 2011, AuRico announced that it had entered into an
arrangement agreement (the 'Arrangement Agreement') with Northgate
Minerals Corporation ('Northgate'), pursuant to which, among other
things, AuRico will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common
shares of Northgate in accordance with a plan of arrangement of
Northgate under the British Columbia Business Corporations Act (the 'Arrangement'). Assuming the Arrangement becomes effective, each
Northgate shareholder will receive 0.365 of an AuRico common share for
each Northgate common share.

Shareholders of record at the close of business on September 13, 2011
will be provided with the notice of the Special Meeting and management
information circular in respect of the Special Meeting and will be
entitled to vote at the Special Meeting. The Company's information
circular with respect to the Special Meeting will be mailed to
shareholders on or about September 20, 2011.

About AuRico Gold:

AuRico Gold is a leading intermediate Canadian gold and silver producer
with a diversified portfolio of high quality mines and projects in
Mexico. The Company's three wholly-owned operating properties include
the Ocampo mine in Chihuahua State, the El Chanate mine in Sonora State
and the El Cubo mine in Guanajuato State. A strong pipeline of
development and exploration stage projects include the Guadalupe y
Calvo advanced development property in Chihuahua State and the Orion
advanced development property in Nayarit State, along with six
exploration properties throughout Mexico. AuRico's head office is
located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Cautionary Statement

Cautionary Note to US Investors - The United States Securities and
Exchange Commission permits US mining companies, in their filings with
the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can
economically and legally extract or produce. This press release uses
certain terms, such as 'measured', 'indicated' and 'inferred'
'resources', that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit US registered
companies from including in their filings with the SEC. US Investors
are urged to consider closely the disclosure in AuRico Gold's Annual
Report on Form 40-F, which may be secured from AuRico Gold, or from the
SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority
has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Certain statements included herein, including information as to the
future financial or operating

performance of the Company, its subsidiaries and its projects,
constitute forward-looking statements. The words ''believe'',
''expect'', ''anticipate'', ''target'', ''continue'', ''estimate'',
''may'', and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements
regarding anticipated future financial and operational performance, the
future price of gold and silver and the ratio of their prices, the
de-risking of operations, future exploration results of its exploration
and development programs and the success of the Company's exploration
approaches, the Company's ability to delineate additional resources and
reserves as a result of such programs, statements regarding its
financial exposure to litigation, targets, estimates and assumptions in
respect of gold and silver production and prices, operating costs,
results and capital expenditures, mineral reserves and mineral
resources and anticipated grades, recovery rates, future financial or
operating performance, margins, operating and exploration expenditures,
costs and timing of completion of the Ocampo expansion program and
improvements to the heap leach pad, costs and timing of the development
and commencement of production of new deposits, costs and timing of
construction, costs and timing of future exploration and reclamation
expenses including, anticipated 2011 results, operating performance
projections for 2011, our ability to fully fund our business model
internally, 2011 gold and silver production and the cash and operating
costs associated therewith, the ability to achieve productivity and
operational efficiencies, and the timing of each thereof.
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of
estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the
Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic,
competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. The
operating and financial performance of the Company will be affected by
changes in the actual gold equivalency ratio realized in 2011. Many
factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made
by, or on behalf of, the Company. Such factors include, among others,
known and unknown uncertainties and risks relating to additional
funding requirements, reserve and resource estimates, commodity prices,
hedging activities, exploration, development and operating risks,
illegal miners, political and foreign risk, uninsurable risks,
competition, limited mining operations, production risks, environmental
regulation and liability, government regulation, currency fluctuations,
recent losses and write-downs, restrictions in the Company's loan
facility, dependence on key employees, possible variations of ore grade
or recovery rates, failure of plant, equipment or process to operate as
anticipated, accidents and labour disputes. Investors are cautioned
that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance and, accordingly, investors are cautioned not to put undue
reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty
therein.

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please visit the Company's website at http://www.auricogold.com or contact: