In response to the lower expected gold recoveries from heap leaching reported on 23 October 2017, work is progressing on advancing a milling option. A pre-feasibility study, filed by the Company on March 29, 2018, and the results of which are highlighted in the Technical Studies Press Release dated March 21, 2018, indicates that the construction of a conventional carbon in pulp mill at Kışladağ is technically and economically feasible. The mill supports a 3.1 million ounce reserve with expected metallurgical recoveries of approximately 80%, to produce an average of 270,000 ounces of gold per year over nine years.

As the margin per ounce under a milling scenario is considerably better than heap leaching, the Company has decided to defer ore mining until the mill feasibility is complete and a final investment decision has been made. The Kışladağ team will continue stripping waste from the pit in preparation for ore mining to recommence and will continue to extract gold from existing leach pad inventories.

2018 production at Kışladağ is forecast to be 120,000-130,000 ounces of gold from the leach pad at a cash cost of $600-$700 per ounce including roughly $150 per ounce of non-cash inventory changes.