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Alacer Gold';s Australian Exploration Success Supports Planned Gold Production Growth

^{Published on 2011-08-30 06:28:03 - Market Wire}
 

TORONTO, Aug. 30, 2011 /CNW/ - Alacer Gold Corp ("Alacer" or the "Company") [TSX:ASR, ASX:AQG] announces ongoing results from the 2011 drilling program at its Higginsville and South Kalgoorlie Gold Operations in Australia.

Highlights

• The Trident orebody extended down plunge by the discovery of a thick zone of mineralization ("Helios") at Higginsville.  Results include:
• 54.5m @ 3.7g/t Au from 1,010m including 23m @ 7.7g/t Au
• 33.0m @ 3.7g/t Au  from 961m including 13m @ 5.5g/t Au
• Shallow, high-grade drilling intersection from Shirl West at South Kalgoorlie including:
• 10m @ 11.4g/t Au from 13m
• 17m @ 6.6g/t Au from 35m
• Final infill drilling of the Mt Marion West lode at South Kalgoorlie confirmed continuity of mineralization over a 600m vertical extent.  Results include:
• 8m @ 5.0g/t Au from 281m
• 9m @ 4.7g/t Au from 431m
• Acquisition of the Mt Martin tenements provides another potential ore source for South Kalgoorlie.

Edward Dowling, President and CEO of Alacer stated "Our exploration team is systematically testing Alacer's large tenement holdings in Australia's richest gold belt - the Kalgoorlie to Norseman gold belt. We are investing in exploration to support our strategy of having multiple mines providing ore to two treatment hubs in this prolific region.  Success over recent months includes the discovery of the thick Helios zone at Trident and shallow high-grade oxide gold mineralization at Shirl West.  We remain confident that further success will enable the Company's resource and reserve base to increase and support our planned increase in gold production from our Australian operations."

This exploration update reports Australian drilling results received since the Alacer's Quarterly Activities Report was released on April 29, 2011.

Higginsville Exploration

The active exploration program at Higginsville continued to test for depth extensions to the Trident orebody and for satellite ore sources for the Higginsville processing plant.

Trident Exploration

Drill testing from underground of the strike extent of the Apollo North zone at Trident has extended the strike extent of this thick, high-grade zone to in excess of 150m with a dip extent of 50m to 60m.

A new zone of mineralization (named "Helios") has been confirmed at depth to the north of the Artemis lode. The Artemis mineralization is interpreted to extend up to the commencement of Helios where the mineralization changes from narrow laminated quartz veining to a broad zone of strong shearing, sulphidation and alteration.

Drilling has confirmed that the continuity of the thick Helios mineralization is at a scale potentially similar to the recently mined Western Zone. The Helios mineralization has now been defined as a broad zone over a 200m length, 350m depth and up to 30m thickness within which there is a higher grade component.  The transition from the laminated quartz veins of Artemis into the larger, more disseminated style mineralization of Helios has distinct similarities with the transition from the laminated quartz lodes of the Athena orebody into the thick, +350,000 ounce Western Zone orebody. This similarity in styles increases the down-plunge potential for additional mineralization at Trident as it demonstrates a repetition and periodicity to the laminated vein lodes (Athena and Artemis) and larger, more disseminated zones of mineralization (Western Zone/Apollo and Helios).

Diamond drilling from both underground and surface will continue to infill and test for extensions to the Trident orebody.

Table 1: Summary of all significant drill intersections returned from all holes drilled into the Helios Zone since April 2011. True width is estimated at 50% on all surface drillhole intersections on Helios. 

Figure 1:  Trident Long Section showing location of surface drilling extensions to the Trident system. The location of the current Trident decline is highlighted in blue.  The current extent of Helios (purple) and Artemis (red) are show in comparison to Western Zone (blue) and Athena (red).: [ http://files.newswire.ca/986/Figure1.pdf ]

Further drilling from surface recently commenced that is aimed at testing the down-plunge position of Helios.

Higginsville Line of Lode Exploration

Aircore and Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drilling along the Higginsville Line of Lode continued to test targets and define regolith anomalism over an area of 7km by 3km on drill-spacing from 320m by 80m to 80m by 40m. This program has generated several +0.5g/t Au regolith anomalies over strike lengths of 200m to 400m that are being progressively followed up with further drilling.

Gold deposits in the Higginsville area are predominantly hosted by a particular gabbro rock unit. A 'framework drilling' program of deeper diamond drillholes is being carried out with the aims of:

• systematically building up knowledge of the stratigraphy and structure to a depth of approximately 800m along the 6km-long Higginsville Line of Lode; and
• 'mapping' the prospective gabbro unit in 3D to enable at depth to better target future drilling.

Framework drilling is being carried out on lines 800m apart and comprising fences of scissor holes. This program will require approximately 30,000m of drilling in 30 holes and take another nine months to complete.

This systematic approach reflects the Company's assessment that another major orebody similar to Trident is likely to be found beneath one of the smaller gold deposits along the Higginsville Line of Lode that have been mined via small open pits.

Other Higginsville Exploration

Regional exploration is being accelerated with the completion of more than 44km of aircore drilling since March 2011 across Alacer's large tenement holding at Higginsville.  Drilling is targeting the identification of anomalies at the scale of associated with the Trident, Chalice or Frog's Leg orebodies.

Early stage drill testing of multiple targets in the Challenge region (~10 km southeast of the Higginsville processing plant), Nawock (~20km southeast) and Lake Cowan (~15km east) continued to return encouraging results. Aircore drilling has generated several discrete +0.5g/t Au regolith anomalies that are worthy of accelerated drill follow up.

RC drilling was completed at the Napoleon prospect at Lake Cowan and results indicate excellent potential for a small open pit.  Resource modelling is in progress prior to open pit optimization studies.

South Kalgoorlie Operations Exploration

Recent exploration on the South Kalgoorlie Operations ("SKO") tenements has been focused on testing for underground mining potential at HBJ and Mount Marion West and open-pit mining potential at Shirl West.

HBJ Exploration

A twelve-hole drill program has commenced at HBJ to assist with the assessment of developing an underground mine within this large gold resource.  This program is targeting potential high-grade zones below the southern end of the existing HBJ pit. This area lies immediately to the south of an underground mine that produced 1.0 million tonnes at 6.4g/t Au for 207,000 ounces in the mid 1990's.

RC drilling identified gold mineralization in the oxide to transitional zones in the planned cut-back to the northwest wall of the HBJ open pit. Further drilling is in progress to assess the potential for this area to provide additional oxide ore to the Jubilee processing plant.

Mt Martin

Alacer recently agreed to acquire the Mt Martin tenements from Australian Mines Limited for staged payments totaling A$7.5 million. Located approximately 8km east of the HBJ pit and the Jubilee processing plant, several mines on the Mt Martin tenements have produced approximately 200,000 ounces of gold from intermittent mining dating back to 1923.

In June 2010, ASX-listed Australian Mines Limited announced resources for Mt Martin stated to be compliant with the JORC Code. Alacer is undertaking studies and other work to:

• commence open-pit mining of a portion of these resources; and
• publish these resources in accordance with the NI43-101 Standard.

There is also potential for further open-pit and underground mining on the Mt Martin tenements.

Mt Marion West Exploration

Located 18km west of the Jubilee processing plant, Mt Marion is an underground mine that produced approximately 650,000 ounces of gold between 1997 and 2007. The Mt Marion West Lode was mined at a depth of approximately 650m below surface. Alacer Gold completed a drilling program testing the Mt. Marion West Lode closer to surface and final assay results have now been received. Results have confirmed the extent of mineralization [over 600m vertical extent up to 150m strike extent] in the Mt. Marion West Lode (see Table 2 and Figure 2). Interpretation of these results and resource modeling has commenced.

Table 2: Summary of significant drill intersections from all Mt Marion West assays received since April 2011. Note that intersections in MWDD007 and MWDD009 were disclosed in Alacer's Quarterly Activities Report released on April 29, 2011. True width is estimated at 80-100% of downhole width.

Figure 2.  Long section showing existing underground mine infrastructure at Mt Marion and the location of the five most recent drillhole assay results from Mt Marion West: [ http://files.newswire.ca/986/Figure2.pdf ]

Shirl Exploration

Located near Coolgardie and 40km west of the Jubilee processing plant, the Shirl-Barbara-Surprise 28 Complex ("SBS28 Complex") is a 3km-long mineralized zone that has been sporadically mined under fragmented ownership over the past 70 years. The various styles of gold mineralization at the SBS28 Complex are indicative of a big system. The controls on mineralization are becoming better understood as drilling is progressively following up widespread, high-grade gold mineralization defined by previous drilling and mining.

The Shirl open pit produced 63,000 ounces from August 2006 to January 2008. RC drilling immediately to the northwest of the Shirl open pit area has been completed on a 20m by 20m grid pattern with a total of 3,162m of drilling completed in 42 holes.

Recent results at Shirl West have been extremely encouraging with several drillholes intersecting shallow, thick, high-grade mineralization including:

• 11m @ 5.5g/t Au from 20m in SHRC416
• 25m @ 3.8g/t Au from 42m in SHRC425
• 17m @ 6.6g/t Au from 35m in SHRC460
• 5m @ 16.7g/t Au from 17m in SHRC461
• 10m @ 11.4g/t Au from 13m in SHRC462
• 17m @ 5.1g/t Au from 58m in SHRC464

Mineralization has been interpreted as a series of moderate to flat dipping lodes up to 15m width over a strike length of 80m and dip extent of 100m. Mineralization is visually associated with a biotite-altered gabbro in fresh rock and remains open to the east and at depth.

Infill drilling, resource modelling and open-pit optimization studies are in progress. Shirl West has the potential to provide high-grade oxide ore to the Jubilee processing plant and can be progressed into production quickly as the deposit is located on freehold land with relevant mining approvals already in place.

Figure 3.  Plan projection showing the location of the Shirl West drilling collars, colour coded by the gram x metres intersection within the drillhole. The Shirl open pit lies immediately to the south of this drilling (bottom of picture). Large circles refer to drilling since April 2011 while smaller open circles refer to earlier drilling.: [ http://files.newswire.ca/986/Figure3.pdf ]

Table 3: Summary of Shirl West drill intersections received since April 2011. True width is estimated at 80-100% of downhole width.

About Alacer

Alacer is a leading intermediate gold company with operations in both Australia and Turkey.

Australia
Alacer has three operating gold mines in Australia, namely the Higginsville and South Kalgoorlie operations; and a 49% interest in the Frog's Leg underground mine. The South Kalgoorlie operations and the Frog's Leg interest were acquired following the successful takeover of Dioro Exploration NL, which was completed in March 2010. The Australian operations are targeting 280,000 ounces of gold in 2011.

Turkey
Alacer is recognized as a leader in exploration and development in Turkey and, with the start-up of Çöpler, will soon be among Turkey's leading gold producers. Çöpler is 95% owned by Alacer and 5% by Lidya Mining (formerly known as Çalık Mining, see Anatolia News Release, August 13, 2009). Initial plans at Çöpler are to produce approximately 1.42 million leachable ounces of gold at costs consistent with the lower end of industry standards. Average annual production is expected to be about 175,000 gold ounces. Additional production expansion from the sulfide gold reserve is expected to add 2.25 million ounces. A detailed feasibility study is underway. In addition, Alacer holds a significant pipeline of prospective gold and base metal projects.

Alacer Gold currently has 278.0 million common shares issued and outstanding, 297.1 million fully diluted.

Other Information

Technical Procedural Information

The information in this report which relates to Exploration Results and the Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Chris Newman, a full time employee of Alacer Gold Corp. and who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Newman has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which is being undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" and a qualified person pursuant to National Instrument NI 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administration. Mr Newman consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

Exploration and drilling results are reported as drilled thicknesses. Reverse circulation cuttings were sampled on 1.0m intervals and core was sampled at geologically selected intervals.  Analysis of drill samples were performed by ALS-Chemex in Vancouver, BC, Canada, for gold by fire assay off a 30 gram charge with an AA finish.  For these samples, the gravimetric data were utilized in calculating gold intersections. Quality Assurance/Quality Control included the insertion and continual monitoring of numerous standards and blanks into the sample stream, and the collection of duplicate samples at regular intervals within each batch.  Selected holes are also analyzed for a 33-element four acid ICP—AES.  Drill composites were calculated using a cut-off of 0.3 g/t Au.

Cautionary Statements

Certain statements contained in this report 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 relate to this report and other matters identified in Alacer's public filings, 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 and include, but are not limited in any manner to, those with respect to proposed exploration, communications with local stakeholders and community relations, status of negotiations of joint ventures, commodity prices, mineral resources, mineral reserves, realization of mineral reserves, existence or realization of mineral resource estimates, the timing and amount of future production, timing of studies and analysis, the timing of construction of the 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, economic, legal, social, regulatory and political factors that may influence future events or conditions. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions, including, but not limited in any manner, those disclosed in any other Alacer 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 or the Company and the ultimate ability to mine, process and sell mineral products on economically favorable terms. While we consider these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to us, they may prove to be incorrect. Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties disclosed in other Alacer 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.