The company said it had added 345,000oz to the Ardich gold resource, taking it to 639,000oz at an average grade of 1.5g/t. Ardich also has an inferred resource of 96,000oz grading 1.16g/t.

"Given its potential and near-term development optionality, Ardich has become the highest-priority development target in Alacer's portfolio," CEO Rod Antal said.

The resource estimate was based on 100 diamond core drill holes with assays completed through February. The deposit is expected to grow as new step-out drilling is completed.

Alacer also issued an updated prefeasibility study for the Gediktepe project in Turkey.

The updated PFS "demonstrated value" Antal said, and Gediktepe now has an after-tax IRR of 27% and a $252 million NPV.

The company owns the Gediktepe project through its Polimetal JV on a 50/50 basis with state miner Lidya Mining, which is the project operator.

"The updated Gediktepe PFS continues to demonstrate the economic value and technical viability of the project," Antal said.

The PFS outlined a mine life of 11 years with a projected payback of 4.1 years. Alacer said the project hosted 878,000oz in the measured and indicated categories, as well as 29.8Moz silver, 537Mlb copper and 1.05Blb zinc.

Antal said with eh PFS in hand, the company would continue to progress the requisite technical work that would allow it to make a construction decision in the future, while also evaluating its strategic alternatives for the project.

The C$1 billion company (TSX:ASR) closed 2% or 7c lower in Toronto on Wednesday at $3.45, having gained more than 40% since the New Year.