Alacer Gold announces 2014 first quarter results

TORONTO, April 28, 2014 /CNW/ - Alacer Gold Corp. ("Alacer" or the "Corporation") [TSX: ASR and ASX: AQG] announced today that it has filed its first quarter 2014 financial results and related management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A"). The corresponding financial statements and MD&A are available on www.AlacerGold.com and on www.SEDAR.com. All currencies referenced herein are denominated in USD unless otherwise stated.

Rod Antal, Alacer's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Çöpler continued to deliver safe and predictable operating performance over the winter months.

"First quarter gold production of 42,669 attributable¹ ounces was delivered at industry-leading All-in Costs² of $739 per ounce. Çöpler's operations continue to provide a robust platform to support future growth as we advance the Sulfide Definitive Feasibility Study. Work continues to finalize the DFS for publication prior to the end of Q2 2014. Additionally, the efforts underway to incorporate the increasingly significant positive gold reconciliation into a new resource model are well progressed." 

2014 Highlights

Strategic

• On April 17, 2014, the Corporation announced that Mr. Thomas R. Bates, Jr. was appointed to the Board of Directors. In addition, Mr. Edward Dowling was appointed as Chairman, and former interim Chairman Mr. Richard Graff remains on the Board as the independent Lead Director.
• On March 12, 2014, the Corporation's Board of Directors declared an annual dividend of $0.02 per share, or approximately $5.9 million.  This dividend was paid on April 15, 2014.
• Work on the Çöpler Sulfide Project Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") continues and is on track for release prior to the end of Q2 2014. This includes a program of work to determine the factors leading to the positive sulfide gold reconciliations. As outlined in the MD&A, until such work is complete, the impact of such reconciliation on the DFS is unknown and therefore subject to uncertainty.

Operational

• Two significant safety milestones were passed during the quarter as Çöpler reached one calendar year worked without a lost-time injury on February 24, 2014, and achieved three million hours without a lost-time injury on March 27, 2014.
• Total gold production was 52,919 ounces.
• Attributable gold production¹ was 42,335 ounces.
• The ratio between gold produced and contained gold in ore stacked was 80% for the quarter.
• All-in Sustaining Costs/ounce²  were $680 and All-in Costs/ounce² were $739 for Q1 2014.
• 0.5 million tonnes of sulfide ore were added to stockpiles during Q1 2014 at an average grade of 4.98 g/t.  Sulfide ore mined continued to provide a positive gold reconciliation during Q1 2014, which resulted in an 82% positive reconciliation on a contained ounce basis.

Financial

• The Corporation ended Q1 2014 with cash and cash equivalents of $292.1 million³, an increase of $2.4 million over the prior quarter.
• Working capital decreased by $7.5 million during the quarter to $307.7 million.
• Attributable net profit from operations was $9.7 million.
• Adjusted Net Profit² was $15.1 million, or $0.05 per share.
• Cash flow from operating activities totaled $29.8 million.

Conference Call / Webcast Details

Mr. Rod Antal, Chief Executive Officer of Alacer, will host a conference call on Monday, April 28 at 6:30 pm (North America Eastern Time) and Tuesday, April 29, at 8:30 a.m. (Australian Eastern Time).

You may listen to the call via webcast at http://services.choruscall.ca/links/alacer140428.html. The conference call presentation will also be available at the link provided prior to the call commencing.

You may participate in the conference call by dialing:

If you are unable to participate in the call, a webcast will be archived until July 28, 2014 and a recording of the call will be available on Alacer's website at www.AlacerGold.com or through replay until Wednesday, May 28, 2014 by using passcode 8901# and calling:

The corresponding financial statements and management's discussion and analysis will be posted on Alacer's website and on www.SEDAR.com.

About Alacer

Alacer Gold Corp. is a leading intermediate gold mining company and its world-class operation is the 80% owned Çöpler Gold Mine in Turkey.  Alacer also has 11 active exploration projects in Turkey which are joint ventures with our Turkish partner Lidya Mining.

During 2013, Çöpler produced 216,850 attributable¹ ounces at an All-In Costs² of $864 per ounce.

Çöpler is currently an open-pit, heap-leach operation that is producing gold from oxide ore. The treatment of sulfide ore via pressure oxidation is being evaluated and a Definitive Feasibility Study is planned to be completed in Q2 2014.

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 news release, production, cost and capital expenditure guidance; development plans for processing sulfide ore at Çöpler; amount of contained ounces in sulfide ore; 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 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 Çöpler. 
² All-in Sustaining Costs/ounce, All-in Costs/ounce and Adjusted Net Profit are non-IFRS financial performance measures with no standardized definition under IFRS. For further information and detailed reconciliations, see the "Non-IFRS Measures" section of the MD&A for March 31, 2014.
³ Includes the Lidya Mining portion of Q1 profits that are expected to be distributed in the first half of 2015.

SOURCE Alacer Gold Corp.