Alacer Gold Announces $250M Credit Facility, Updated 2015 Guidance and 2015 First Quarter Operating & Financial Results

TORONTO, April 27, 2015 /CNW/ - Alacer Gold Corp. ("Alacer" or the "Corporation") [TSX: ASR and ASX: AQG] announced today that it has filed its 2015 first quarter operating, 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 President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "It has been a productive quarter for Alacer as we again delivered strong results from Çöpler and received Board approval to advance the Sulfide Project. Importantly, we reported an increase in Çöpler's Life-of-Mine production by over 800,000 ounces, which provides near-term tangible value and continues to de-risk the Sulfide Project through an improved gold production profile.  I am also pleased that we have a commitment in place from a syndicate of lenders for a $250 million credit facility for the Sulfide Project that further demonstrates the robustness of the project and provides us the flexibility to pursue our growth strategy.

As a positive result from the recent update to the Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves and updated gold recovery model, we have increased 2015 production guidance and lowered cost metrics. 

Alacer will continue to focus on delivering opportunities to optimize Çöpler, derisk the Sulfide Project and deliver value for our shareholders."

Highlights

Strategic

• On April 27, the Corporation signed a commitment letter with a syndicate of lenders for a $250 million senior secured credit facility with no mandatory hedging, a 7-year term and interest rates of LIBOR plus 2.5% to 2.95%.
• On April 24, the third incentive certificate was approved and will generate material cash tax credits from eligible expenditures on the Sulfide Project and Heap Leach Pad expansion.
• On April 9, the Corporation announced the Board of Directors approved advancement of the Çöpler Sulfide Project into detailed engineering and procurement of long-lead time items.
• On March 30, an updated NI 43-101 Technical Report was issued increasing Çöpler's reserves and increasing life-of-mine gold production by over 800,000 ounces.
• On February 11, the Corporation announced the suspension of its dividend policy due to capital expenditure commitments, including the Sulfide Project.
• On January 12, the Corporation announced the project development team leading the Çöpler Sulfide Project in Turkey.

Operational

• At March 31, the Çöpler Gold Mine reached 5.7 million hours worked and 766 days without a lost-time injury. 
• Gold production was 50,949 ounces and attributable gold production1 was 40,759 ounces.
• Total Cash Costs2 per ounce (C2) were $443 and All-in Sustaining Costs2 per ounce were $690.
• Construction of the Heap Leach Pad Phase 4 expansion continued to advance on schedule.
• An additional 0.5 million tonnes of sulfide ore was stockpiled bringing total sulfide stockpiles at quarter-end to 3.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 4.01 g/t.       

Financial

• Cash and cash equivalents was $349.9 million and no external debt at end of Q1.
• Working capital increased $15.2 million to $394.6 million.
• Cash flow from operating activities totaled $23.5 million.
• Attributable net profit was $15.2 million, or $0.05 per share.

2015 Guidance Update

As a result of the updated Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves statement, ensuing mine plan optimizations and updated gold recovery model, the Corporation has revised its 2015 production, cost metrics and capital guidance for the Sulfide Project.

• Çöpler gold production (100%) of 190,000 to 210,000 ounces
• Total Cash Costs2 (C2) of $450 to $500
• All-in Sustaining Costs2 of $700 to $750
• Çöpler sustaining capital expenditures of $35 million
• Çöpler sulfide capital expenditure of $85 million
• Exploration expenditure of $22 million

Assumptions underlying the revised 2015 guidance include the Mineral Reserves mine schedule as set out in the updated Technical Report and a gold price of $1,200 per ounce.

Conference Call / Webcast Details

Alacer will host a conference call on Tuesday, April 28 at 6:00 p.m. (North America Eastern Daylight Time) and Wednesday, April 29 at 8:00 a.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time).

You may listen to the call via webcast at http://services.choruscall.ca/links/alacer150428.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, 2015 and a recording of the call will be available on Alacer's website at www.AlacerGold.com or through replay until Thursday, May 28, 2015 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 is a leading 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") owned 80% by Alacer and 20% by Lidya Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. ("Lidya Mining"). The Corporation's primary focus is 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 has started and the Corporation continues to evaluate opportunities to optimize and extend oxide production beyond the current reserves.
• Çöpler Sulfide Project – the Corporation is moving into detailed engineering with procurement of long-lead time items progressively during 2015. The Project will deliver medium-term growth with robust financial returns and adds an additional 22 years of production. The Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") has been approved and the Project is on track for commissioning at the end of 2017. The Sulfide Project will bring Çöpler Life-of-Mine gold production to 3.9 million ounces at industry low All-in Sustaining Costs2 averaging $637 per ounce as detailed in the updated Technical Report.
• Alacer continues to pursue numerous high-potential exploration projects in Turkey in various joint ventures with the Company's 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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¹Attributable gold production is reduced by the 20% non-controlling interest at the Çöpler Gold Mine
²Total Cash Costs and All-in Sustaining Costs are a non-IFRS financial performance measure with no standardized definition under IFRS. For further information and a detailed reconciliation, please see the "Non-IFRS Measures" section of the MD&A for December 31, 2014.

SOURCE Alacer Gold Corp.