TEXT - S&P rates Eldorado Gold Corp proposed notes

Overview
-- We are assigning our 'BB' issue-level rating to Vancouver-based
Eldorado Gold Corp.'s proposed US$600 million senior unsecured notes.
We understand that the proceeds from the notes will be used for general
corporate purposes.
-- We are also affirming our 'BB' long-term corporate credit rating on
Eldorado.
-- Eldorado operates five gold mines in Turkey and China, a polymetallic
mine in Greece, and an iron ore mine in Brazil. The company is developing
multiple gold projects within its existing operating regions, as well as in
Romania.
-- The stable outlook reflects our view that Eldorado's low cost
production base should support steady funds from operations generation as well
as help maintain adequate liquidity in a multiyear period of heightened
capital spending.

Rating Action
On Dec. 11,2012, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'BB'
issue-level rating to Vancouver-based gold producer Eldorado Gold Corp.'s
US$600 million senior unsecured notes.

We understand that the proceeds from the unsecured notes will be used for
general corporate purposes.

Standard & Poor's also affirmed its 'BB' long-term corporate credit rating on
Eldorado. The outlook is stable.

Rationale
The rating on Eldorado reflects what we view as the company's credit
strengths, which include its low pro forma debt levels, better-than-average
cost position, strong credit measures amid high contemporary metals prices,
and expanding production profile. These strengths are somewhat offset, we
believe, by the company's exposure to volatile commodity prices, limited
operating diversity, and the execution risks surrounding its collection of
growth projects.

Eldorado operates five gold mines in Turkey and China, a polymetallic mine in
Greece, and an iron ore mine in Brazil. It is also developing multiple gold
projects within its existing operating regions, as well as in Romania.

The company's fair business risk profile reflects our view of its reliance on
several key assets for the majority of its earnings, potential challenges at
its development projects, some fairly short reserve lives at several of its
producing assets, and potential earnings fluctuations because of its reliance
on volatile gold and base metals prices. This is offset, in our opinion, by a
low-cost, long-term production base and the continuation of strong margins and
earnings in the current metals price environment.

In our opinion, Eldorado's limited operating diversity is a key rating
constraint. The company has relied on its top three mines for the majority of
its production and operating income in the past few years. It is particularly
sensitive to potential operating disruptions at its largest asset, the
Kisladag project in Turkey, which accounts for about 40% of 2012 forecast gold
output and about 65% of proven and probable reserves attributable to producing
mines. We expect that this concentration should moderate as the company brings
several gold projects into commercial operations in the next several years.
Nevertheless, we estimate that contributions from Eldorado's Kisladag mine
will remain more than one-third of total production as the mine increases gold
output to more than 470,000 ounces by 2014.

We believe that Eldorado's operations, much like those of its peers, are
exposed to the social, political, and operating risks attendant in the mining
industry. In the case of Eldorado, our view reflects the company's recent
permitting delays in China and a court-ordered production outage in Turkey, as
well as the development issues (for example, permitting delays and social
unrest) that other mining companies have experienced within Eldorado's key
growth markets (Greece and Romania). These elevated risks are somewhat
cushioned by the portfolio effect that comes with a company spreading its
asset base across multiple countries. Even so, we expect that prolonged delays
in project timelines could temper potential operating diversity improvements
that would likely be conducive to a stronger business risk profile.

Standard & Poor's views Eldorado's cost profile as one of the best in the
midtier gold producer peer group. The company's cost position is supported by
its connections to lower-cost grid power, comparably low royalty rates, and
the fairly stable mine head grades at Kisladag, its largest operation. We note
that the company's operating portfolio generally lacks the significant
byproduct credits that--at contemporary metals prices--have improved the mine
economics and reported cash costs at several of its peers. At the same time,
we expect relatively steadier operating income and production at Eldorado
throughout the commodity cycle because the company is less exposed to volatile
copper and silver prices.

Eldorado's gold reserve base of 29 million ounces should support a 16-year
mine life, and compares favorably with several of the company's larger gold
producing peers. The company has developed several exploration discoveries
into large-scale mining operations, which we believe support long-term
production visibility beyond current reserve estimates. That said, Eldorado's
reserve base includes several producing assets that have fairly short
five-year mine lives as well as about 11 million ounces of gold attributable
to development projects situated in regions of Greece and Romania, which have
historically been opposed to mining development.

Our base case operating assumptions for Eldorado in the next 18 months
incorporate the following:
-- A gold price of US$1,400 per ounce and an iron ore price of US$80 per
metric ton, both of which we believe should allow the company to generate
margins close to those it has recently achieved. We believe that these prices
would compel the company to advance its growth plans without materially
diminishing its financial risk profile; and
-- The company's annual production through 2013 should remain fairly
stable, with EBITDA of close to US$600 million per year. At these earnings
levels, we would expect free cash burn to peak next year assuming the company
maintains its current project development timelines.

In our opinion, Eldorado's low pro forma debt levels and strong credit
measures support its significant financial risk profile. We believe that the
company's low pro forma debt capitalization partially cushions its sensitivity
to gold and iron price fluctuations. Pro forma to the proposed US$600 million
unsecured notes, we estimate that a US$150-per-ounce reduction in the
company's gold margin (realized gold price less cash costs) increases its
debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio by less than a half turn, which is an increase
of far less magnitude than that of a few of its investment-grade
gold-producing peers. Under our base case operating assumptions, we expect
Eldorado to generate an adjusted debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio of about 1x and
an adjusted funds from operations (FFO) to debt of more than 60%.

Financial flexibility could become strained, in our view, if the company
spends about US$2 billion on growth and expansion projects in the next five
years, as planned. While the majority of the company's growth capital is
targeted for projects within economically weak Europe, Eldorado will likely
remain exposed to similar industry cost pressures that have overwhelmed the
project budgets of several of its peers. That said, we believe that the
comparatively smaller scale of its projects and potential adjustments to
development timelines could ease free cash burn in any given year.

Liquidity
We view Eldorado's liquidity as adequate based on our assessment of the
following factors:
-- That sources of liquidity will be greater than 1.2x uses in the next
12 months and greater than 1.0x thereafter. Sources of funds include its pro
forma cash balances, FFO generation, and close to full availability on its
upsized US$375 million revolving credit facility.
-- Sources would be greater than uses even if forecast EBITDA declines by
15%.
-- Estimated FFO should cover US$400 million in capital spending in 2012.
However, next year's capital spending rises to US$700 million, which should
lead to a free cash burn of close to US$300 million.
-- Nevertheless, we expect some spending flexibility next year as actual
capital outlays could be lower than the company's latest expectations given
our view of possible project development delays.
-- Furthermore, we would expect the company to adjust its common stock
dividend payments in a manner that would favor financial flexibility over
shareholder returns.

The company has several asset-level debt maturities totaling US$45.6 million
due in the next six months of which US$31.1 million was repaid in November
2012. About US$42 million of the maturities are related to the Eastern Dragon
project in China that were expected to be repaid once Eastern Dragon obtained
the project approvals needed to draw down on some project-financing loans.
These maturities could potentially be extended once again to accommodate the
project's revised start-up timeline. Nevertheless, Eldorado could repay the
remainder of its debt maturities from existing sources of cash. The company's
revolving credit facility was recently extended to November 2016 and increase
to US$375 million from US$280 million.

Recovery analysis
We rate Eldorado's proposed US$600 million senior unsecured notes 'BB' (the
same as the corporate credit rating on the company).

Given that Eldorado's producing assets are situated in jurisdictions that we
view to be either the least creditor friendly (Turkey and Brazil) or where we
have not reviewed the insolvency regime (China), our approach in assigning our
issue-level rating to the proposed notes identifies priority claims that rank
ahead of the notes offering.

We believe, however, that the recovery prospects for the proposed notes are
sensitive to the amount of proposed bonds and of future senior and equally
ranking debt. Pro forma to a net asset balance of US$6.4 billion and total
priority claims of US$710 million, we estimate that priority claims could
increase by about US$250 million before approaching the 15% of net asset
threshold where we would lower the senior unsecured rating by one notch.

Outlook
The stable outlook reflects our view that Eldorado's low-cost production base
should support steady FFO generation as well as help maintain an adequate
liquidity position during a multiyear period of heightened capital spending.
Assuming gold prices remain consistent with our base case operating scenario,
in the next several years we expect the company to generate a rolling 12-month
FFO of about US$400 million with an adjusted FFO-to-debt ratio above 60%.

We could lower the rating if Eldorado's mining costs and gold prices
meaningfully deteriorate to levels where negative free operating cash flow
rapidly escalates, straining the company's adequate liquidity position. This
could occur if the company's gold margins shrink to less than US$600 per ounce
and capital spending costs meaningfully escalate, driving adjusted FFO to debt
below 50%, likely causing free cash burn above US$700 million in 2013.

A positive rating action is unlikely through next year, given the execution
risks surrounding the concurrent development of multiple growth projects.
However, one could occur if the company makes faster-than-expected
construction progress on its development projects while maintaining its
significant financial risk profile.

Related Criteria And Research
-- Methodology and Assumptions: Liquidity Descriptors For Global
Corporate Issuers, Sept. 28, 2011
-- Key Credit Factors: Methodology And Assumptions On Risks In The Mining
Industry, June 23, 2009
-- Update: Jurisdiction-Specific Adjustments To recovery And Issue
Ratings, June 20, 2008
-- 2008 Corporate Criteria: Analytical Methodology, April 15, 2008
-- 2008 Corporate Criteria: Rating Each Issue, April 15, 2008

Ratings List
Eldorado Gold Corp.
Ratings Assigned
US$600 million notes BB

Ratings Affirmed
Corporate credit rating BB/Stable/--