TORONTO, April 11 /CNW/ - Alacer Gold Corp ("Alacer" or the "Corporation") (TSX: ASR) is pleased to announce commercial production has been achieved
effective April 1, 2011 at its Çöpler Gold Mine in Turkey, after a
review of the operational and financial performance of the mine.
Alacer began stacking run-of-mine ore at Çöpler during the fourth
quarter 2010, with the first gold pour achieved on December 22, 2010.
For the first quarter 2011, the mine stacked a total of 1,695,816
tonnes of run-of-mine ore on the leach pad at an average grade of 1.23
g/t containing 66,935 ounces. An average of 18,842 tonnes/day was
stacked during the quarter with an average of 21,061 tonnes/day stacked
in March 2011.
The gold recovery plant delivered 31,401 ounces of gold to carbon in the
first quarter, including over 17,253 ounces in March 2011. Gold poured
for the quarter was 33,602 ounces, before final refinery settlements.
Gold sold from Çöpler in the first quarter 2011 was 31,450 ounces at an
average price of $1,403 per ounce.
Edward Dowling, CEO of Alacer stated, "We are extremely pleased by the
performance at Çöpler during its first full quarter of operations.
Mining rates are stable and recoveries from the run-of-mine ore are
encouraging with production in March exceeding average life-of-mine
plans. The startup of the crushing circuit will occur during the second
quarter. The mine should benefit from incrementally improved gold
recovery levels and rates from crushed and agglomerated ores."
About Alacer
Alacer is a leading intermediate gold company with operations in both
Australia and Turkey.
Australia
Alacer has three operating gold mines in Australia, namely the
Higginsville and South Kalgoorlie operations; and a 49% interest in the
Frog's Leg underground mine. The South Kalgoorlie operations and the
Frog's Leg interest were acquired following the successful takeover of
Dioro Exploration NL, which was completed in March 2010. In the
financial year ended June 2010, production was 230,000 ounces of gold,
of which 183,000 ounces were produced at Higginsville at A$503 per
ounce (excluding royalties) with the balance produced at South
Kalgoorlie which included the 49% interest in Frog's Leg. The
Australian operations are targeting 280,000 ounces of gold in 2011.
Turkey
Alacer is recognized as a leader in exploration and development in
Turkey and, with the start-up of Çöpler, will soon be among Turkey's
leading gold producers. Çöpler is 95% owned by Alacer and 5% by Lidya
Mining (formerly known as Çalık Mining, see Anatolia News Release,
August 13, 2009). Initial plans at Çöpler are to produce approximately
1.42 million leachable ounces of gold at costs consistent with the
lower end of industry standards. Average annual production is expected
to be about 175,000 gold ounces. Additional production expansion from
the sulfide gold reserve is expected to add 2.25 million ounces. A
detailed feasibility study is underway. In addition, Alacer holds a
significant pipeline of prospective gold and base metal projects.
Alacer Gold currently has 276.4 million common shares issued and
outstanding, 297.2 million fully diluted.
Cautionary Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute
forward-looking information, future oriented financial information, or
financial outlooks (collectively "forward-looking information") within
the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information
may relate to this news release and other matters identified in
Alacer's public filings, Alacer's future outlook and anticipated events
or results and, in some cases, can be identified by terminology such as
"may", "will", "could", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate",
"believe", "intend", "estimate", "projects", "predict", "potential",
"continue" or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not
historical facts and include, but are not limited in any manner to,
those with respect to proposed exploration, communications with local
stakeholders and community relations, status of negotiations of joint
ventures, commodity prices, mineral resources, mineral reserves,
realization of mineral reserves, existence or realization of mineral
resource estimates, the timing and amount of future production, the
timing of construction of proposed mine and process facilities, capital
and operating expenditures, economic conditions, availability of
sufficient financing, exploration plans and any and all other timing,
exploration, development, operational, financial, economic, legal,
social, regulatory, political factors that may influence future events
or conditions. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of
material factors and assumptions, including, but not limited in any
manner, those disclosed in any other Alacer filings, and include
exploration results and the ability to explore, the ultimate
determination of mineral reserves, availability and final receipt of
required approvals, titles, licenses and permits, sufficient working
capital to develop and operate the proposed mine, access to adequate
services and supplies, commodity prices, foreign currency exchange
rates, interest rates, access to capital markets and associated cost of
funds, availability of a qualified work force, ability to negotiate,
finalize and execute relevant agreements, lack of social opposition to
the mine, lack of legal challenges with respect to the property or the
Company and the ultimate ability to mine, process and sell mineral
products on economically favorable terms. While we consider these
assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available
to us, they may prove to be incorrect. Actual results may vary from
such forward-looking information for a variety of reasons, including
but not limited to risks and uncertainties disclosed in other Alacer
filings at www.sedar.com and other unforeseen events or circumstances. Other than as required by
law, Alacer does not intend, and undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking information to reflect, among other things, new
information or future events.
<p> Edward Dowling, President and CEO, or Douglas Tobler, CFO at (303) 292-1299 or visit <a href="http://www.alacergold.com">www.alacergold.com</a> </p>