Alacer Gold announces leadership transition

TORONTO, April 26, 2012 /CNW/ - Alacer Gold Corp. ('Alacer' or the 'Company') [TSX: ASR and ASX: AQG] is pleased to announce today that David F. Quinlivan will assume the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective August 1, 2012.  Edward C. Dowling, Jr. will step down from management after leading the Company for the past four years.  Mr. Dowling will remain on the Company's Board of Directors as a non-executive member.

Additionally, the Company is pleased to announce that Rod Antal has agreed to join the Company as Chief Financial Officer, effective May 21, 2012.

President and Chief Executive Officer Transition

Mr. Quinlivan has been an independent, non-executive member of the Board of Directors of the Company since February 18, 2011, when the Company (formerly named Anatolia Minerals Development Limited) merged with Avoca Resources Limited ('Avoca') to create Alacer Gold Corp.  Mr. Quinlivan joined the Avoca Board of Directors on February 15, 2005.

Mr. Quinlivan has significant mining and executive leadership experience with 11-years of service at WMC Resources Ltd, followed by a number of high-profile mining development positions. Since 1989, Mr. Quinlivan has served as Principal of Borden Mining Services, a mining consulting services firm, where he has worked on a number of mining projects in various capacities.  Mr. Quinlivan has served as Chief Executive Officer of Sons of Gwalia Ltd (post appointment of administrators), Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Mt. Gibson Iron Ltd and Chairman of Churchill Mining plc. Mr. Quinlivan will split his time between the Company's headquarters in Denver, Colorado, the Company's offices in Perth, Western Australia and the Company's operations in Western Australia and Turkey.

Timothy Haddon, Chairman of the Board, commented, 'On behalf of the Board and Alacer's shareholders, I would like to thank Ed for his significant contributions to Alacer and his leadership over the last four years.  Ed has created outstanding value for our shareholders by bringing Anatolia and Avoca together to create a strong new intermediate gold producer with outstanding growth prospects, successfully taking the Ҫӧpler Mine into production, forming a valuable strategic partnership with the Ҫalik Holding Company in Turkey, and generally positioning the Company strategically for long-term success.  We are excited that we will continue to benefit from Ed's expertise as he remains on the Board.'

'Going forward, David brings an excellent combination of mining expertise and business acumen that will help ensure that Alacer capitalizes on its strong portfolio of assets.  David will lead the Company in optimizing the value of the Company's assets.  In particular, David's operational mining experience will be a tremendous asset that will help the Company maximize the value of the Ҫӧpler Mine by efficiently executing the planned growth projects to unlock the considerable mineral endowment at Ҫӧpler.  In addition, David's experience as a director of Avoca will prove especially valuable in helping Alacer to realize the value of the gold endowment of the Company's Australian mineral properties while also improving the efficiency of the Company's Australian operations.'

Mr. Dowling commented, 'I am extremely proud of the company that Alacer has developed into over the last four years.  I am confident that David is the right person to lead Alacer forward as an intermediate gold producer.'

Chief Financial Officer Transition

Mr. Antal has spent the last 15 years serving in a number of management and executive positions with Rio Tinto plc and its affiliates.  Since December 2010, Mr. Antal has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Rio Tinto Minerals which produces nearly half of the world's supply of refined borates. From August 2006 until December 2010, Mr. Antal served as Global Head of Rio Tinto Shared Services ('RTSS'), a global services provider to Rio Tinto. RTSS operates in Asia Pacific, the Americas, Europe and Africa, providing financial, HR, IT and facilities management services to subsidiaries and affiliates of Rio Tinto.

From September 2003 until July 2006, Mr. Antal served as Chief Financial Officer of Energy Resources of Australia ('ERA'), a publicly listed company that is majority owned by the Rio Tinto. ERA has been mining uranium since 1980 and operates within the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Mr. Antal also has gold industry experience from his time spent in Papua New Guinea with Lihir and Placer Dome.  Mr. Antal will be based in the Company's headquarters in Denver, Colorado.

Mr. Dowling commented, 'Alacer is excited to have Rod join the Alacer management team.  Rod has a unique background that includes both financial and operational experience. I am confident that Rod will be able to use his significant international mining and financial experience to assist Alacer with achieving its strategic and operational goals.'

Mr. Quinlivan continued, 'I am particularly excited to have Rod join the management team as we work to take Alacer forward to the next stage of its development.'

Doug Tobler, Alacer's current Chief Financial Officer, will provide transition services to assist with the transition of the Chief Financial Officer role to Mr. Antal.

Conference Call Details

The Company will host a conference call on Thursday, April 26 at 6:00 p.m. (North American Eastern Daylight Saving Time) and Friday, April 27 at 8:00 a.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time) to discuss the leadership changes.

You may participate in the conference call by dialing:

    1-800-895-1549          for U.S. and Canada
    1-800-144-837           for Australia
    800-901-494             for Hong Kong
    800-101-2018            for Singapore
    0-808-101-1183          for United Kingdom
    1-785-424-1057          International

    4092749                 ConferenceID

                             

If you are unable to participate in the call, a recording of the call will be available on Alacer's website at www.AlacerGold.com or through replay until May 10, 2012 by calling:

    1-888-203-1112          for U.S. and Canada
    1-800-154-669           for Australia
    800-901-108             for Hong Kong
    800-101-2009            for Singapore
    0-808-101-1153          for United Kingdom
    1-719-457-0820          International

                             

About Alacer

Alacer Gold Corp is a leading intermediate gold mining company with interests in multiple mines which provide ore to three processing facilities in Australia and Turkey:

        --  80% interest in the Çöpler Gold Mine;
        --  100% interest in the Higginsville Gold Operations;
        --  100% interest in the South Kalgoorlie Gold Operations; and
        --  49% interest in the Frog's Leg Gold Mine.

Alacer's operations produced a total of 421,204 ounces of gold during 2011.

Alacer is pursuing a rapid growth strategy. The primary focus is organic growth from current operations and the Company's extensive gold and copper exploration properties in Australia and Turkey.

Cautionary Statements

Except for statements of historical fact relating to Alacer, certain statements contained in this press 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 be contained in this document and other public filings of Alacer. Forward-looking information often relates to statements concerning 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.

Forward-looking information includes statements concerning, among other things, matters relating 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 development approach, the timing and amount of future production, timing of studies and analyses, the timing of construction of proposed mines 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, budgetary, economic, legal, social, regulatory and political factors that may influence future events or conditions. Such forward-looking information and statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions.  While we consider these factors and assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to us, they may prove to be incorrect.

You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information and statements.  Forward-looking information and statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and our projections about future events.  Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties disclosed in Alacer's 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.

ALACER GOLD CORP.

CONTACT: Edward Dowling or Lisa Maestas - North America at +1-303-292-1299

Roger Howe - Australia at +61-405-419-139