ALACER GOLD ANNOUNCES 23% INCREASE OF HIGGINSVILLE MINERAL RESERVE ESTIMATE TO 875,000 OUNCES

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Alacer's Higginsville at 7.9 Mt of 3.5 g/t Au P+P


News Release


Mr. Edward Dowling reports

ALACER GOLD ANNOUNCES 23% INCREASE OF HIGGINSVILLE MINERAL RESERVE ESTIMATE TO 875,000 OUNCES

Alacer Gold Corp. has issued updated mineral resource and reserve estimates for its Higginsville gold operations in Australia. The mineral reserve estimate has increased by 164,000 ounces (net of mining depletion over 18 months) to 7.9 million tonnes at 3.5 grams per tonne gold, containing 875,000 ounces, as detailed in the related table.

MINERAL RESERVE FOR HIGGINSVILLE OPERATIONS AS AT DEC. 31, 2011

Proven Probable Total reserves
Tonnes Grade Ounces Tonnes Grade Ounces Tonnes Grade Ounces
(kt) (g/t) (000s) (kt) (g/t) (000s) (kt) (g/t) (000s)

Trident underground 595 5.0 96 3,108 4.5 447 3,703 4.6 543
Chalice underground - - - 1,049 4.3 144 1,049 4.3 144
Fairplay underground - - - 139 6.4 29 139 6.4 29
Open pits - - - 2,704 1.7 151 2,704 1.7 151
Stockpiles (*) 282 0.8 7 - - - 282 0.8 7
Total 877 3.7 104 7,000 3.4 771 7,877 3.5 875

Note: Rounding differences will occur. The above estimate is based on a gold price of
$1,350 (U.S.) per ounce.

(*) Includes satellite and Trident low-grade stockpiles.
Edward Dowling, president and chief executive officer of Alacer, stated: "This updated Higginsville reserve is the culmination of extensive drilling and other work since July, 2010. The net increase of 164,000 ounces is quite significant considering that the Higginsville gold operations produced more than 230,000 ounces of gold during the 18 months to December, 2011.

"The increased reserves are largely due to down-plunge extensions of the Trident orebody. The Trident reserve was about 500,000 ounces when mining started four years ago, more than 500,000 ounces have now been produced from Trident, and the Trident reserve remains more than 500,000 ounces.

"It is important to note that the measured and indicated resources for Trident and Chalice total a combined 5.7 million tonnes at 4.9 grams per tonne gold, containing 895,000 ounces. Further drilling should progressively convert more resources to reserves as well as continuing to extend both resources. These efforts take time, but we are excited about the likelihood of additional high-margin ores as demonstrated by the recent high-grade discovery at Corona within the Higginsville line of lode.

"An increasing proportion of Higginsville feed should be high-grade ore from underground mines following the ramp-up of Chalice ore production later this year. This will take Higginsville a long way towards the target of processing 1.5 million tonnes per annum at a head grade of 4.5 grams per tonne gold, thus producing approximately 200,000 ounces per annum."

The primary components of the net reserve increase of 164,000 ounces since the previous (July, 2010) estimate are:

Despite Trident being the predominant ore source for Higginsville, the Trident underground mineral reserve increased by 47,000 ounces largely as a result of additional ounces in the Artemis and Helios lodes, partially offset by mining depleting the Western zone, Apollo and Athena lodes.
The Chalice mineral reserve increased by 26,000 ounces and reflects the identification of the new lodes in the footwall to the main Olympus lode. The grade has decreased slightly due to additional drilling and conversion to reserves of resources up dip of the Olympus lode.
The updated estimate includes a maiden Fairplay underground mineral reserve of 29,000 ounces. This relatively high-grade reserve would potentially be accessed from the floor of the planned Fairplay pit.
Systematic evaluation of existing mineral resources has increased open pit mineral reserves by a total of 79,000 ounces, predominantly from the Pluto, Musket, Mitchell and Vine deposits.
The updated mineral reserve was estimated at a gold price of $1,350 (U.S.) per ounce, compared with $1,200 per ounce for the July, 2010, mineral reserve.
The Higginsville mineral resource was previously stated at July 1, 2011. This previous estimate has been adjusted to reflect mining depletion totalling 61,302 ounces over the six months to Dec. 31, 2011. The updated estimate is in the related table.

Source

EnCana sheds assets

EnCana sheds assets
The chase by Noah Zivitz:

EnCana's efforts to navigate languishing natural prices top our agenda this morning. Mitsubishi has signed up as a 40% joint-venture partner in EnCana's Cutbank Ridge assets in the Montney for the tidy sum of $2.9 billion. But let's not mistake that as a sign EnCana is plowing full-steam ahead to develop projects. CEO Randy Eresman says it is "abundantly clear that a continued reduction of drilling activity will be required to restore market balance." So EnCana is slashing capital spending to 37 percent below last year's levels.

We'll need to hear what a move like this could mean for gas prices, if others will follow, and explore whether EnCana has other JVs lined up. Oh yes, it looks like earnings came in a little shy of expectations. Paul Bagnell has the early file. We've got reaction from portfolio managers at 10:30 and 11:40.
Price pressures are intensifying in Canada. The loonie added to its gains after Statistics Canada reported the consumer price index advanced 0.5 percent in January. The Bank of Canada's closely-watched core index was a tick above the BoC's target. In a note to clients, BMO says today's CPI is "payback time" after prices were surprisingly low in late 2011. All told, it doesn't look like this will prompt a shift in strategy for the central bank. But we need to consider how Canadians will cope when facing rising prices.

As the world turns in Greece, we await meetings taking place Sunday and Money when eurozone finance ministers meet to determine Athens' fate. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti says he'll be in close contact with his German and Greek counterparts over the weekend. I'd like to hear if the sudden resignation of Germany's president will distract Chancellor Merkel from crisis talks. We're hoping to get Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's perspective on the situation just before 11am ET.

While macro talk dominates, we're not losing sight of today's compelling stock stories. Fairfax Financial logged a $771 million loss late yesterday on investment and underwriting losses. CEO Prem Watsa says Fairfax won't back off its equity hedges because the company is "very
concerned" about the economy.

When Watsa talks, investors listen. And there'll be a whole lot of listening to do at 8:30 when Watsa presides over Fairfax's conference call. We'll track it closely.

We're also waiting for earnings from Brookfield Asset Management, Enbridge and Cott. Enbridge boss Pat Daniel joins us at 3:20 to talk numbers and Northern Gateway.
We've got a jam-packed data docket. We're also looking at U.S. CPI data. And we'll get Canadian and U.S. leading indicators this morning, too.

The BNN Source