Apollo Gold Announces Construction of the Standard Mine in Nevada.

Business Editors

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 2004

Apollo Gold Corporation (TSX:APG) (AMEX:AGT) ("Apollo Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce receipt of the necessary operating permits for the Standard Gold Mine. The Standard Mine is located 5 miles south of the Company's Florida Canyon Mine near Winnemucca, Nevada, and will be a similar, oxide gold, open-pit, heap leach operation.

Mr. Wade Bristol, Vice-President of Operations for Apollo Gold, said, "Apollo has been in the process of permitting, drilling and completing engineering studies for the mine for the past 18 months. Development of the roads, pad construction, installation of power and other infrastructure will begin immediately with some ore placement scheduled for later in the third quarter of this year. Ore and waste movement will ramp up over the next few months after the third quarter with full production anticipated early in 2005. The capital cost of the mine is forecast at US $7.5 million to bring the mine into operation. When in full production, cash operating costs are expected to be below $240 per ounce of gold with current reserves sufficient to support production for a period of 5 years. Apollo Gold has also identified several attractive gold prospects near the Standard Mine, such as the recently acquired Buffalo Canyon area, and drilling programs are currently underway with encouraging results which could end up extending the mine life of Standard."

R. David Russell, President and CEO of Apollo Gold, commenting on the Standard Gold Mine, stated, "The successful exploration program and now completion of the permitting process for Standard demonstrate the continued success of the Apollo Gold team in developing shareholder value. The Standard Mine will be a valuable part of the gold production profile for the Company over the next few years. The benefits of the synergies with the Florida Canyon operations, plus the mine's low capital costs, very low stripping ratio, and short haul distances to the leach pad, will all add up to make the operation efficient and lower the Company's cash operating costs."

According to Russ Fields at the Nevada Mining Association, "The Standard Mine will be the first new mine to be put into production since the Ken Snyder operation was added in 1998. Mining works for Nevada and we wish Apollo Gold well in this new venture."

The Standard Mine will be the first mine to be put into production from grass roots exploration by the new Apollo, and this milestone event will be followed by the advancement of the next two projects, being:

1. The Black Fox Project:

Following the successful completion of the 2003 drilling program, which identified 457,000 ounces of proven and probable gold, Apollo plans to spend US$ 10.5 million on converting underground mineralized area into gold reserves and the completion of a feasibility study including additional metallurgical test work and the start of the exploration shaft in 2004. The underground exploration drift advance is ahead of schedule and underground core drilling is well underway. The Black Fox project is projected to be producing by late 2006 with full production starting in 2007.

The second project is:

2. The Huizopa Project:

This newly acquired exploration project consists of a block of mining concession claims, which covers an area of 22 square km (5436.3 acres or 2200 hectares) near the Chihuahua border with the state of Sonora, Mexico. The Huizopa concessions are approximately 235 km (146 miles) due east of the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, and is located between the advanced-stage multi-million-ounce gold/silver projects at Mulatos (Alamos Gold) and Dolores (MineFinders Corporation Ltd.) along with several other gold/silver camps as illustrated along this famous belt on the enclosed map.

Apollo's initial earn-in for 51% interest includes a payment to Argonaut Mines, LLC of US$ 125,000, issuance of 48,978 shares of Apollo Gold Corporation stock and a commitment to complete a US$ 3.0 million exploration program over the next four years. Subsequent equivalent land payments to Argonaut will be as follows; US$ 51,750 in October 2004, US$ 74,750 in October 2005, US$ 115,000 in April 2006, US$ 115,000 in April 2007 and a final payment of US$ 1.725 million in October 2007 for total payments of US$ 2.207 million and the above mentioned 48,978 shares of stock. The total buy-in for the above payments and work commitment for the first 51% interest is US$ 5.2 million. After the initial 51% earn-in Apollo may earn an additional 10% of the joint venture with the completion of a feasibility study. Pending a positive feasibility study Apollo may earn a further 10% if Apollo brings the project into commercial production, at which point Apollo would own 71% of the joint venture.

The Huizopa area was mined from the late 1890s through the 1930s using small-scale operations. There has been no significant mining activity since then. The geology is characterized by a series of parallel, low-sulfidation gold-silver, quartz veins hosted by Tertiary-age volcanic rocks. Silver-to-gold ratios in the veins and from the material on historic mine dumps indicate the Huizopa area hosts an extensive gold-bearing hydrothermal system. Two major parallel quartz vein systems with north trending structures contain many single vein outcrops 7 to 10 meters thick suggesting a series of stacked veins. Strike lengths are over 2.0 km on the property with untested down dip potential.

The Company plans to develop a trenching program as well as a drilling program to begin to delineate the more promising structures within the area. Apollo believes the Huizopa area has the potential for high-grade bonanza-type ore zones as well as broad vein/stockwork mineralization amenable to open pit mining as well as underground mining.

Apollo Gold is a gold mining company with operating mines in Nevada and Montana, an advanced-stage development project, Black Fox, along the productive Destor-Porcupine Fault east of the Timmins Gold Camp in Ontario, Canada, and an early-stage exploration project in the Sierra Madre Gold Belt in Chihuahua, Mexico, called the Huizopa project.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

The above-mentioned cash operating, total cash and total production costs are non-GAAP Financial measures and are used by management to assess performance of individual operations as well as a comparison to other gold producers.

The term "cash operating costs" is used on a per-ounce-of-gold basis. Cash operating costs per ounce is equivalent to direct operating expense, less production royalties, mining taxes and by-product credits for payable silver, lead and zinc. We have included cash operating costs information to provide investors with information about the cost structure of our mining operations.

The term "total cash operating costs" is inclusive of the above with the addition of production royalties and mining taxes.

The term "total production costs" includes all total cash operating costs with the addition of the non-cash portion of the costs including depreciation and amortization.

This information differs from measures of performance determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in Canada and the United States and should not be considered in isolation or a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. These measures are not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flow from operations as determined under GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release includes certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding potential mineralization, reserves, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of Apollo Gold, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include: the outcome of assays and additional exploration sampling and drilling efforts, delay in permits or approvals, technical or permitting problems, unanticipated drilling problems or costs, variations in ore grade, and other factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Apollo Gold's 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, and elsewhere in Apollo Gold documents filed from time to time with the Toronto Stock Exchange, The American Stock Exchange, The United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.