Alacer Gold Announces Çöpler Sulfide Project Development Team

TORONTO, Jan. 12, 2015 /CNW/ - Alacer Gold Corp. ("Alacer" or the "Corporation") [TSX: ASR and ASX: AQG] is pleased to announce the project development team leading the Çöpler Sulfide Project in Turkey.

Rod Antal, Alacer's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We have brought together a world-class group of experienced professionals who will be responsible for the construction and delivery of the Sulfide Project in 2017.  The high caliber of talent Alacer has attracted to the Sulfide Project speaks to the quality of the asset.  With government approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment for the expansion received last month, we are one step closer to the Board making a construction decision."

The Çöpler Sulfide Project, designed for whole ore pressure oxidation ("POX") processing of sulfide ore, is expected to increase life-of-mine gold production by 3.2 million ounces as outlined in the positive Definitive Feasibility Study released in June 2014.

Çöpler Sulfide Project Development Team

Robert Benbow - Senior Vice President of Strategic Projects - was previously Vice President and Country Manager of Alacer's Turkish Business Unit.  Mr. Benbow joined the Corporation as General Manager of the Çöpler Mine in 2007.  He has 40 years in the mining industry, of which 29 years are in the gold industry, and has over 25 years of senior management experience.  Mr. Benbow has been involved in mining projects in Turkey for the last ten years. 

John Ebbett - Sulfide Project Director - will lead the project and is responsible for the detailed engineering, construction and commissioning of the sulfide plant.  Mr. Ebbett has over 10 years of industry experience and was previously a Project Manager at Newcrest Mining, where he was responsible for the post-expansion optimization of the processing plant at the Lihir gold mine.  He was also responsible for the completion of the process plant expansion, the Toguraci underground development and infrastructure upgrades at the Gosowong gold mine.  Mr. Ebbett's prior experience includes process plant design and project engineering with Ausenco.  

Victor Ketcham - Metallurgy and Process Manager - joined the sulfide project team in early 2014 and is responsible for the plant metallurgy and ore processing.  Mr. Ketcham has over 35 years of international experience in the design, construction, commissioning and management of complex metallurgical processing plants. He had direct management responsibility for commissioning two of the largest high-pressure, acid leaching autoclave plants in the world at Lihir gold mine and Murrin Murrin nickel-cobalt mine. Mr. Ketcham previously served as the lead consultant on several major projects from the feasibility study stage through to detailed design and construction.

Steven Brasch - Engineering Manager - will oversee all engineering on the project. Most recently, Mr. Brasch was the Engineering Manager on a major BHP Billiton greenfield project.  Mr. Brasch has over 20 years of industry experience, specializing in project engineering delivery as an Engineering Manager and Mechanical Design Engineer.  Mr. Brasch has worked in greenfield and brownfield projects across gold, copper, nickel and coal mining in Australia, Asia and the Pacific Islands.

John Harmse - Commercial Manager - will oversee all commercial and business services on the project. Mr. Harmse has almost 20 years of industry experience, specializing in project business services and commercial management for large resource projects. In his previous role as Global Functional Manager of Contracts for Fluor Corporation's Mining and Metals business unit, Mr. Harmse contributed to the establishment and successful implementation of contracting and procurement strategies for large brownfields and greenfields projects for the gold, copper, iron ore and oil and gas industries in Australia, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands.

Roger Whitaker - Electrical & Instrumentation Manager -  joins Alacer from Newcrest Mining, where he was the Lead Project/Electrical Design Engineer for the Lihir gold mine. Mr. Whitaker has over 20 years of engineering, procurement and construction experience within the natural resources, mining and power generation sectors, specializing in electrical, control and materials handling systems. Most recently, Mr. Whitaker was responsible for execution of an 80MW power station and high-voltage network upgrade.

Altigan Marasli - Operations Readiness Manager - has been an employee of Alacer since 2010 and served as Çöpler's Process Superintendent before being promoted to Process Manager in 2011.  Mr. Marasli has 15 years of industry experience and previously worked as a metallurgist at INMET's Çayeli Copper Mine in Riza, Turkey where he worked in their copper and zinc flotation plant. Mr. Marasli was selected to the Corporation's graduate study program and recently received his Master's degree in both Mining Engineering and Mineral Economics from Colorado School of Mines while continuing to work on the Sulfide Project. Mr. Marasli will continue to work on the project focusing on operations readiness.

About Alacer
Alacer is a leading intermediate gold mining company with an 80% interest in the world-class Çöpler Gold Mine in Turkey. The Corporation's primary focus is to maximize portfolio value, maximize free cash flow, minimize project risk, and therefore create maximum value for shareholders.

During 2014, Çöpler is forecast to produce 160,000 to 180,000 attributable[1] ounces of gold at All-in Costs² of $730 to $780 per ounce. Çöpler's oxide ore is currently being processed in a conventional crush, agglomeration, heap-leach and gold recovery circuit.

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

• Çöpler Oxide Production Optimization - continuing to evaluate opportunities to optimize and extend the oxide production beyond the current reserves. 
  
• Çöpler Sulfide Project - work is ongoing following the June 2014 Sulfide Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") which demonstrated robust financial returns from processing sulfide ore and extends Çöpler's mine life to 20 years. Çöpler is forecast to produce a further 3.2 million ounces of gold at low All-in Costs[2] averaging $810 per ounce over the life of the mine.
  
• Alacer continues to pursue numerous high-potential exploration projects in Turkey in various joint ventures with our Turkish partner, Lidya Mining.

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; 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 final 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.

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¹ Attributable gold production is reduced by the 20% non-controlling interest at the Çöpler Gold Mine.
² All-in Costs is a non-IFRS financial performance measure and has no standardized definition under IFRS. For further information and detailed reconciliation, please see the "Non-IFRS Measures" section of the MD&A for September 30, 2014.

SOURCE Alacer Gold Corp.