How it started
History
The company began as Golden Rock Explorations, Inc. on February 23, 1986 (date of incorporation). In 1998, it was renamed Gammon Lake Resources, Inc. Over the next 13 years, it changed names twice more, first to Gammon Gold Inc on June 18, 2007, and to AuRico Gold in May 2011.
On August 9, 2006, AuRico finalized the $451 million takeover of Mexgold Resources Inc., which owned the Guadalupe y Calvo gold and silver project in Mexico.
In April 2011, the company acquired Capital Gold for $408 million after 67% of Capital Gold's shareholders voted in favor of the deal. Assets included El Chanate and the Orion gold project in Mexico.
On May 16, 2011, it changed its name to AuRico Gold, a combination of Au ('gold') and Rico (meaning "rich" in Spanish).
On August 29, 2011, it acquired the Vancouver-based Northgate Minerals in a C$1.46 billion deal (US$1.49 billion). The new company (62% owned by AuRico shareholders with the other 38% residing with Northgate's shareholders) has 83% more gold resources than AuRico had beforehand. Including the takeover of Capital Gold, AuRico increased its gold reserves by about 70% in less than five months.
From Wikipedia’s article on AuRico Gold, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2