Alacer Gold files second quarter financial results and related management's discussion and analysis

TORONTO, Aug. 14, 2012 /CNW/ - Alacer Gold Corp. ("Alacer Gold" or the "Corporation") [TSX: ASR and ASX: AQG] today announced that it has filed its second quarter 2012 financial results and related management discussion and analysis ("MD&A"). The complete financial statements and MD&A can be found at www.AlacerGold.com and on www.SEDAR.com.  The details of a conference call to discuss these results can be found later in this press release.

Second Quarter 2012 Highlights

A comparison of performance in Q2 2012 versus Q1 2012 is provided in the table below.

• Cash and cash equivalents increased to $275.4 million as of June 30, 2012, up from $249.6 million as of December 31, 2011.
• The Corporation expects better production results in H2 2012 due to higher expected ore grades, which should have a positive effect on costs per ounce. However, due to H1 2012 performance, the full-year production outlook has been revised from a range of 396,000 to 410,000 ounces to a range of 385,000 to 403,000 ounces.
• On April 30, 2012, the Corporation's C$100 million convertible debentures ("Debentures") matured. C$53.6 million converted to 6,695,750 common shares prior to maturity. Alacer Gold settled the balance of the Debentures in cash.
• Alacer Gold recently announced the following leadership transitions:
• David F. Quinlivan assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 1, 2012.
• Rod Antal joined Alacer Gold as Chief Financial Officer, effective May 21, 2012.
• On July 16, 2012, the Corporation announced that the South Kalgoorlie Operations expansion project ("SKOEP") in Western Australia would be deferred.  This will allow additional geological and mine engineering work to be completed in order to ensure requisite returns on capital are achieved.

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H1 2012 Mine Performance Summary

At Çöpler, 76,621 attributable ounces were produced during H1 2012. Development of the Marble and Main Pits commenced in late Q1 following the successful relocation of the Çöpler village.  Greater than anticipated clay content of ore mined from the Marble and Main Pits during H1 2012 led to reductions in primary crusher and agglomerator circuit throughput (926kt in Q1 versus 932kt in Q1).  Crusher throughput and heap-leach performance in Q1 were also negatively impacted by unusually heavy snow falls and a fire in a tertiary crusher screen and feeder area.  Repairs to the crusher screen and feeder area were completed in Q2 2012.

At Higginsville, 68,556 ounces were produced during H1 2012 which was lower than planned because production from the narrow, higher-grade Athena lode was hampered by a previously unidentified band of internal waste. Therefore, higher tonnages of lower-grade Apollo ore were mined which resulted in a lower mine grade during the quarter.

At Frog's Leg, 24,448 ounces were produced during H1 2012. Production for the period was impacted by slower advances on the stoping front as a result of remote setup delays, poor slot firings and low operator coverage. Surface haulage was affected by rain in June 2012, resulting in an ore stockpile of 17,540 tonnes at 5.45g/t gold containing 3,074 ounces remaining at the mine at quarter end.

At South Kalgoorlie Operations ("SKO"), 17,736 ounces were produced during H1 2012. Production for the period was impacted as mining was focused on pre-stripping at the Pernatty and Triumph orebodies with ore being sourced from narrower lodes on the fringes of the orebodies. Haulage of ore from the Triumph open pit was also impacted by rain during June 2012. At quarter end, a stockpile of 67,546 tonnes at 1.46g/t gold containing 3,171 ounces remained at Triumph.

Revised Guidance - Attributable Basis

Çöpler

The high clay content of the ore mined from Main Pit during Q2 2012 resulted in lower than scheduled throughput in the crushing and agglomeration circuit during the quarter.

In response to the increased amount of high clay content ore encountered during Q2 2012, the mine plan has been adjusted to deliver larger volumes of lower clay content ore from the Manganese and Marble Pits during H2 2012. The adjusted mine plan requires accelerating waste removal in the Manganese and Marble Pits and deferring waste removal in Main Pit in H2 2012 which will allow access to higher grade low clay content ores from Manganese and Marble pits beginning in September 2012.

As a result of the adjusted mine plan, the 2012 low end guidance for Çöpler attributable production is updated to a range between 152,000 ounces and 160,000 ounces, or a reduction of 4,000 ounces from our previous lower-end guidance.

Cash Operating Costs/ounce and Total Cash Costs/ounce for H1 2012 have been positively impacted by increased grade.  Based on these results, the 2012 guidance for Cash Operating Costs/ounce has been updated to between $320 and $330/ounce, and Total Cash Costs/ounce have been updated to between $360 and $370/ounce.

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Higginsville

In H2 2012, ore from the Chalice underground mine will displace the low-grade ore stockpiles which were processed to maintain mill capacity in H1 2012. The first production from stoping of the Atlas orebody at Chalice is on schedule for Q3, with continued ramp up during Q4. Trident production in the latter part of 2012 is scheduled from higher grade zones of both the Athena and Apollo orebodies.

Notwithstanding expected H2 2012 improvements, due to the decreased ore grade mined in H1 2012, 2012 guidance for Higginsville is updated to a range between 145,000 ounces and 150,000 ounces, or a reduction of 5,000 ounces from our previous guidance.

Cash Operating Costs/ounce and Total Cash Costs/ounce for H1 2012 have been impacted by decreased grade. After factoring in planned grade increases for the remainder of the year, the 2012 guidance for Cash Operating Costs/ounce has been updated to between $840 and $880/ounce, and Total Cash Costs/ounce have been updated to between $1,060 and $1,100/ounce. The increase in Total Cash Costs/ounce also reflects the negative impact of increased gold prices on the variable royalty pricing component.

Frog's Leg

The Frog's Leg 2012 guidance remains between 50,000 ounces and 53,000 ounces. However, based on the lower than planned grades for H1 2012, guidance for Cash Operating Costs/ounce has been updated to between $780 and $820/ounce, and Total Cash Costs/ounce have been updated to between $820 and $860/ounce.

SKO

In H1 2012, operations focused on pre-stripping waste from the Pernatty and Triumph Pits. H2 2012 gold production is expected to increase as the main mineralized zones of these orebodies are mined. As a result of overall H1 2012 production, the 2012 guidance for SKO is updated to a range between 38,000 and 40,000 ounces, or a reduction of 2,000 ounces from previous guidance.

Guidance for Cash Operating Costs/ounce has been lowered to between $1,040 and $1,080/ounce, and Total Cash Costs/ounce have been lowered to between $1,060 and $1,100/ounce as a result of anticipated higher grades in H2 2012 that will slightly lower costs.

Mr. David Quinlivan, President and CEO of Alacer Gold stated, "The Corporation ended the quarter with cash of $275.4 million.  Attributable gold sales increased to 97,615 ounces and first ore from the new Chalice underground mine was treated during the second quarter of 2012. While our second quarter unit costs have increased, unit costs are expected to decrease slightly in the second half of 2012 and our overall costs guidance remains largely unchanged for the full year. Grades at all of our Australian operations are planned to increase in the second half of the year, and lower unit costs should flow from the increased ounces.

Since starting as President and CEO on August 1, I have been familiarizing myself with the programs already implemented that target improving equipment utilization and increasing productivity. We are conducting a review of all of our operations to identify ways to lower costs and improve operational efficiencies."

Conference Call Details

Alacer Gold will host a conference call on Tuesday, August 14 at 6:00 pm (North America Eastern Daylight Time) and Wednesday, August 15 at 8:00 am (Australian Eastern Standard Time).

You may participate in the conference call by dialing:

If you are unable to participate in the call, a recording of the call will be available on Alacer Gold's website at www.AlacerGold.com or through replay until August 28, 2012 by using passcode 4842265 and calling:

About Alacer Gold

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

Alacer Gold is executing a growth strategy through the use of cash flows to grow production and cash margins to generate strong capital returns. While the primary objective is organic growth, the Corporation also identifies and evaluates strategic transactions that will add shareholder value.

Cautionary Statements

Except for statements of historical fact relating to Alacer Gold, 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 Gold'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, weather conditions at our operations, 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, including, but not limited in any manner to, those disclosed in any other of Alacer Gold's 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 mines, access to adequate services and supplies, commodity prices, ability to meet production targets, 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, lack of legal challenges with respect to the property of Alacer Gold and the ultimate ability to mine, process and sell mineral products on economically favorable terms. 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 Gold'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.

SOURCE ALACER GOLD CORP.