Alacer Gold Receives Approval of Numerous Land Use Permits for the Copler Mine

TORONTO, April 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alacer Gold Corp. (“Alacer” or the “Corporation”) (TSX:ASR) (ASX:AQG) is very pleased to announce that it has received approval for a number of permits from the Turkish authorities for Çöpler. These permits include the Forestry Permits required to fully construct the sulfide plant, the supporting infrastructure, and the tailings storage facility. These permits also allow for the completion of the remaining 30% of the Heap Leach Pad Phase 4 (“HLP4”) expansion. In addition, the Corporation received a number of exploration permits to continue drilling in and around the Çöpler District.

Rod Antal, Alacer’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Today is a landmark day in Alacer’s history with the approval of various important land use permits. We can now progress the Sulfide Project to Board approval and expect to provide a comprehensive Project update in May. The permits also allow us to complete the expansion of the heap leach pad on schedule. On behalf of Alacer and all of its employees, I would like to thank the Turkish government and all of our local stakeholders for their continued support of the Çöpler Mine.”

About Alacer

Alacer is a low-cost, intermediate gold mining company, with an 80% interest in the world-class Çöpler Gold Mine in Turkey operated by Anagold Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (“Anagold”) and 20% owned by Lidya Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (“Lidya Mining”). The Corporation’s primary focus is to leverage its cornerstone Çöpler Mine and strong balance sheet to maximize portfolio value, maximize free cash flow, minimize project risk and, therefore, create maximum value for shareholders.

Alacer is actively pursuing initiatives to enhance value beyond the current mine plan:

• Çöpler Oxide Production Optimization – expansion of the existing heap leach pad to 58 million tonnes continues to advance. All required land use permits for the HLP4 expansion have been received. The Company continues to evaluate opportunities to optimize and extend oxide production beyond the current reserves, including a new heap leach pad site to the west of the Çöpler Mine.
  
• Çöpler Sulfide Project – the Sulfide Project will deliver medium-term growth with robust financial returns and adds 22 years of production at Çöpler. The Sulfide Project will bring Çöpler’s remaining Life-of-Mine gold production to 3.7 million ounces at industry low All-in Sustaining Costs averaging $637¹ per ounce. The Environmental Impact Assessment and all required land use permits have been approved. Final Board of Directors’ approval is required to advance the Sulfide Project construction. The Company continues detailed engineering and procurement of long-lead time items and a comprehensive Project update will be made in May.
  
• The Company continues to pursue opportunities to further expand its current operating base and to become a sustainable multi-mine producer with a focus on Turkey. The systematic and focused exploration efforts in the Çöpler District to locate additional oxide deposits, as well as in other regions of Turkey are progressing. The prospects of particular focus in the Çöpler District are around Yakuplu and Bayramdere, which are shallow, oxide targets with favorable metallurgy and have the potential for rapid development. In the region, evaluation work is advancing and an update on the Dursunbey Project in western Turkey will be provided in Q3 2016.

Detailed information regarding the Çöpler Sulfide Project can be found in the Technical Report dated March 27, 2015 available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company’s website.

Alacer is a Canadian company incorporated in the Yukon Territory with its primary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Company also has a secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange where CDIs trade.

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¹ All-in Sustaining Costs are non-IFRS financial performance measures and have no standardized definitions under IFRS. For further information and detailed reconciliation, please see the “Non-IFRS Measures” section of the MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2015.

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, preliminary cost reporting in this press release, production, cost and capital expenditure guidance; ability to expand the current heap leach pad, development plans for processing sulfide ore at Çöpler; results of any gold reconciliations; ability to discover additional oxide gold ore, the generation of free cash flow and payment of dividends; matters relating to proposed exploration, communications with local stakeholders and community relations; negotiations of joint ventures, negotiation and completion of transactions; 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, announcements and analysis, the timing of construction and development of proposed mines and process facilities; capital and operating expenditures; ability to draw under the credit facility and satisfy conditions precedent including execution of security and construction documents; economic conditions; availability of sufficient financing; exploration plans; receipt of regulatory approvals and any and all other timing, exploration, development, operational, financial, budgetary, economic, legal, social, regulatory and political matters that may influence or be influenced by future events or conditions.

Such forward-looking information and statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions, including, but not limited in any manner to, those disclosed in any other of Alacer’s filings, and include the inherent speculative nature of exploration results; the ability to explore; communications with local stakeholders and community and governmental relations; status of negotiations of joint ventures; weather conditions at Alacer’s operations, commodity prices; the ultimate determination of and realization of mineral reserves; existence or realization of mineral resources; the development approach; availability and receipt of required approvals, titles, licenses and permits; sufficient working capital to develop and operate the mines and implement development plans; access to adequate services and supplies; 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 mines or facilities; lack of legal challenges with respect to the property of Alacer; the timing and amount of future production and ability to meet production, cost and capital expenditure targets; timing and ability to produce studies and analysis; capital and operating expenditures; economic conditions; availability of sufficient financing; the ultimate ability to mine, process and sell mineral products on economically favorable terms 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. 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.

For further information on Alacer Gold Corp., please contact: 
Lisa Maestas – Director, Investor Relations at +1-303-292-1299