Centerra Gold Receives Three Year Water Approvals at Mount Milligan

TORONTO, Feb. 27, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Centerra Gold Inc. (TSX: CG) (“Centerra”) announced today that the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office (“EAO”) has approved an amendment to Mount Milligan’s environmental assessment certificate to permit access to additional sources of surface water and groundwater.  Subject to the receipt of the relevant water licences, the Company will be permitted to obtain water for use in Mount Milligan’s milling operation from Philip Lake 1, Rainbow Creek and Meadows Creek until November 30, 2021 at rates that are protective of the environment.  The Company will also be permitted to access water from groundwater sources within a radius of six kilometres of the Mount Milligan Mine for the life of the mine.

The Company has begun the process of upgrading its water pumping infrastructure at Philip Lake 1 and Rainbow Creek (the costs of which were included in the Company’s previously disclosed 2019 capital expenditure guidance) and expects to be in a position to pump water from such sources prior to the spring melt which is expected in April 2019.  The Company also expects that the additional water captured during the spring melt will be sufficient to allow Mount Milligan to return mill processing operations to full capacity and that, following a ramp up of milling operations, Mount Milligan’s mill throughput will average approximately 55,000 tonnes per day through the remainder of 2019.

Scott Perry, Centerra’s President and Chief Executive Officer stated: “We are delighted that Mount Milligan has received these crucial approvals for water access over a three-year period which will allow processing operations to return to full capacity and pave the way for Mount Milligan to realize its full potential.”

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Information
Information contained in this news release which is not a statement of historical fact may be “forward-looking information” for the purposes of Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking information involves assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking information. The words “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “contemplate”, “plan”, “intends”, “continue”, “budget”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “schedule”, “understand” and similar expressions identify forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things: the Company’s expectation with respect to receipt of water licenses; the upgrading of water pumping infrastructure at Philip Lake 1 and Rainbow Creek; the timing of the spring melt; the sufficiency of such water sources for Mount Milligan’s water needs; and Mount Milligan’s ability to reach its full production capacity and resulting expected mill throughput levels for the remainder of 2019.

Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Centerra, are inherently subject to significant political, business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, the Company’s ability to upgrade its water pumping infrastructure is heavily reliant on the work of a third party contractor; flows from Philip Lake 1, Rainbow Creek and Meadows Creek may be less than expected before, during or after the spring melt and may not be in sufficient volumes to permit the expected increase of production at Mount Milligan; and Mount Milligan’s ability to resume its full production capacity will depend on successful operation of the mill at rates much greater than the mill has operated at for several months as well as on recent maintenance issues being successfully resolved and significant unexpected downtime not occurring.

About Centerra
Centerra Gold Inc. is a Canadian-based gold mining company focused on operating, developing, exploring and acquiring gold properties in North America, Asia and other markets worldwide and is the largest Western-based gold producer in Central Asia. Centerra operates two flagship assets, the Kumtor Mine in the Kyrgyz Republic and the Mount Milligan Mine in British Columbia, Canada and is building its next gold mine, the 100% owned Öksüt Gold Mine in Turkey. Centerra's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol CG. The Company is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

For more information:
John W. Pearson
Vice President, Investor Relations (416) 204-1953
john.pearson@centerragold.com

Additional information on Centerra is available on the Company’s web site at www.centerragold.com and at SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

A PDF accompanying this announcement is available at http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/7e2700a5-958d-474b-baaf-f05000aee810