Anatolia Announces Recommendation From ISS Group in Support of the Merger with Avoca Resources Ltd

TORONTO, Jan. 12 - Anatolia Minerals Development Limited (“Anatolia“ or the “Company“) [TSX: ANO] announced today that Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS“, formerly RiskMetrics) has recommended that its clients vote in favor of the share issuance resolution approving the merger with Avoca Resources Limited (“Avoca“), whereby the two companies would combine to create a new leading intermediate global gold producer. The combined company will be called Alacer Gold Corp. (“Alacer Gold“), bringing together two of the leading junior resource companies in the world. Under the terms of the merger, Anatolia will acquire all of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares and options to subscribe for ordinary shares of Avoca. Assuming the merger becomes effective, each ordinary Avoca share will be acquired for 0.4453 fully paid Anatolia common shares and each Avoca option to subscribe for an Avoca ordinary share will be acquired for 0.4453 options granted by Anatolia to subscribe to Anatolia common shares. In addition, ISS recommends shareholders vote FOR the Option Plan, Shareholder Rights Plan and the Name Change Resolutions as more fully set out in Anatolia's Management Proxy Circular dated December 15, 2010.

ISS is widely recognized as one of the leading independent proxy voting and corporate governance advisory firms. Their analyses and recommendations are relied upon by many major institutional investment firms, mutual funds and fiduciaries throughout North America.

In its report issued on January 11, 2011 recommending that its clients vote to approve the share issuance and other resolutions related to the merger, ISS noted the terms of the transaction and the board's belief that the merger will create a leading intermediate global gold producer and enhance value through diversification, growth and scale as a reasonable rationale. ISS further noted that support is warranted as the merger was the result of arm's length negotiations following consideration of other strategic alternatives, is supported by significant shareholder Pala and no corporate governance concerns are apparent.

“We are pleased that ISS, a leading independent proxy research firm, has supported what the Special Committee and board of directors of Anatolia believe to be true - that this merger is fair to Anatolia shareholders and is in the best interest of the Corporation, as this merger represents a great transaction combining great resources and great teams to enhance shareholder value through diversification, growth and scale“ said Mr. Edward Dowling, President and CEO of Anatolia. "ISS' support following their careful review of the proposed transaction is welcome. We urge shareholders not to delay voting their proxy FOR the share issuance resolution in order to ensure it is received in time to be counted at the Special Meeting scheduled for January 31, 2011“ he continued.


About the Special Meeting

Anatolia will hold a special meeting of shareholders to approve the share issuance and other resolutions on January 31, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. (Toronto time) to be held in the Main Boardroom on the 53rd Floor of Stikeman Elliot LLP, 5300 Commerce Court West, 199 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5L 1B9. Time is of the essence, a proxy, to be effective, must be voted in advance of the Special Meeting and no later than 10:00 a.m. (Toronto Time) on Thursday, January 27th, 2011. Shareholders who require assistance in voting their proxy may direct their inquiry to Anatolia's proxy solicitation agent, Phoenix Advisory Partners, 1-800-504-7752 or contactus@phoenixadvisorypartners.com.


About Anatolia

Anatolia 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 Anatolia and 5% by Lidya Mining (formerly known as Çalık Mining, see News Release, August 13, 2009). Initial plans at Çöpler are to produce approximately 1.3 million 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 of the oxide and sulfide gold resource is expected at Çöpler by continuing exploitation of the large resource and through on-going technical studies and future development. In addition, Anatolia holds a significant pipeline of prospective gold and base metal projects.

Anatolia currently has 139.3 million common shares issued and outstanding, 157.9 million fully diluted. Anatolia's common shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “ANO.“


Cautionary Statements

Except for statements of historical fact relating to Anatolia, certain statements contained in this news release 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 news release and other matters identified in Anatolia's public filings, Anatolia'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“, “targeted“, “possible“, “continue“, “objective“ 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 commodity prices, access to sufficient capital resources, mineral resources, mineral reserves, realization of mineral reserves, existence or realization of mineral resource estimates, results of exploration activities, the timing and amount of future production, the timing of construction of the proposed mine and process facilities, the timing of cash flows, capital and operating expenditures, the timing of receipt of permits, rights and authorizations, communications with local stakeholders and community relations, status of negotiations of joint ventures, availability of financing and any and all other timing, development, operational, financial, economic, legal, 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 of Anatolia's public filings, and include the ultimate determination of mineral reserves, availability and final receipt of required approvals, licenses and permits, ability to acquire necessary surface rights, sufficient working capital to develop and operate the proposed mine, access to adequate services and supplies, economic conditions, commodity prices, foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates, access to capital and debt markets and associated cost of funds, availability of a qualified work force, lack of social opposition and legal challenges, and the ultimate ability to mine, process and sell mineral products on economically favorable terms. While Anatolia considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, 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 Anatolia filings at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are based upon management's beliefs, estimate and opinions on the date the statements are made and, other than as required by law, Anatolia does not intend, and undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking information to reflect, among other things, new information or future events.



For further information:

Edward Dowling, President and CEO, or
Douglas Tobler, CFO at (303) 292-1299 or visit
www.anatoliaminerals.com