KOPY GOLDFIELDS PUBLISHES Q1 2021 OPERATIONAL UPDATE

Highlights:

• The total gold equivalent (GE[1]) production in Q1 2021 from the Company's two bedrock mines in the Khabarovsk region of Russia totalled 7.69 koz (239.06 kg) which was 23 % lower compared to 10.04 koz (312.17 kg) in Q1 2020. Q1 2021 GE production includes 5.26 koz (163.75 kg) of silver which is an equivalent of 0.06 koz (1.84 kg) of gold.
• Gold sales for Q1 2021 amounted to 10.99 koz (341.91 kg), compared to 14.25 koz (443.12 kg) in the corresponding period 2020.
• The Company confirms 2021 gold production guidance of 56-59 koz (unchanged).
• Gold production in Q1 2021 was affected by downscaled mineral processing and underground mining operations at the Yubileyniy mine following the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2020. The operations at Yubileyniy were restored to initial capacity during the quarter. However, shortages of some key personnel at the mine sites affected quarterly operations.
• To further increase capacity and stabilize processing and underground mining operations at the Yubileyniy project, the Company has taken actions by adding extra loaders and ore haulage trucks for underground mining, upgrading the crashing units of the processing plant to both increase capacity and reliability of the ore feed, revising the recruitment program and changing for shift-based employment system.
• First quarter gold production was traditionally affected by seasonal variations since alluvial mining operations are restricted to the warm season. Transportation of concentrates from the Perevalnoe site to the Yubileyniy processing plant take place primarily during the winter season and extraordinary cold weather conditions create temporary reductions of operations on the open pits and crashing units of processing plants.
• The alluvial mining is expected to commence in Q2 2021 when the snow and permafrost melts. In Q1 2021 waste stripping operations at two placer mines totalled 38.3 thsd m³ (compared to 50.2 thsd m³ in 2020) of overburden.
• The Company continues with quarantine measures and other precautions to prevent COVID-19 incidents in the future.

"Q1 was challenging following the outbreak of COVID-19 in December. We put safety first and reduced underground mining and processing operations at Yubileyniy. However, we managed to quickly restore mining and processing activities, despite a shortage of personnel and we remain on track towards our 2021 production target.", said Mikhail Damrin, CEO of Kopy Goldfields.

Yubileyniy project

During Q1 2021, GE production totalled 2.34 koz (72.91 kg), a decrease of 33% compared to Q1 2020. The decrease in production was explained by lower gold grades (-5%) and a decrease in volume (-27%) of ore processed due to a reduction in operations in January because of COVID-19 and lack of personnel.

The gold grade of the ore mined increased by 9% during Q1 2021. This is in line with the recent CPR report, published in October 2020, which shows an increase of grade and thickness of ore bodies down dip. In 2021, the Company develops underground mining operations to the deeper horizons where ore gold grade is increasing. This underpins our plans to increase capacity of the Yubileyniy mine and mill to 250 ktpa by Q4 this year.

Heap leach (HL) operations at Yubileyniy will commence in Q2 2021 with first gold production in Q3 2021.

Gravity and flotation concentrates produced at the Perevalnoe plant are also leached to Dore bars at the Yubileyniy plant. During Q1 2021, a total of 88.26 tons of gravity concentrate and 1,625.46 tons of flotation concentrate from the Perevalnoe project were leached at the Yubileyniy plant, producing 5.28 koz (164.31 kg) of gold, which are reported under the Perevalnoe project further below.

Perevalnoe project

During Q1 2021, the Perevalnoe mill processed 41.44 kt of ore, an increase of 2% compared to Q1 2020. Gravity concentrate production totalled 88.26 t, a decrease of 11% and flotation concentrate 1,625.46 t, an increase of 15%. GE production from Perevalnoe concentrates at the Yubileyniy mill amounted to 5.28 koz, a decrease of 16%.

In Q1 2021 ore crashing for HL operations have been commenced totalling 5.8 kt of ore. The target is to prepare piles in Q3 to produce the first gold in 2022.

Placer mining

In 2021 the Company will operate two placer mines - Byor and Khayarilakh. The alluvial gold production is expected to commence in Q2 when the snow and permafrost melts. In Q1 2021 waste stripping operations at the two placer mines were started and totalled 38.3 thsd m3 (compared to 50.2 thsd m3 in 2020) of overburden.

[1] Varies based on relation between actual gold and silver prices: for 3 months of 2021 the applied average conversion ratio for silver was 1:89 Ag/Au.

[2] Since transportation of gravity and flotation concentrates from the Perevalnoe mine site to the Yubileyniy processing plant depends on season and proceeds over time, there is a time lag between production of concentrate at the Perevalnoe plant and its further processing at the Yubileyniy plant. Hence, the reported gold production for Perevalnoe at the Yubileyniy plant does not necessarily involve processing concentrates from Perevalnoe produced in the same reporting period but rather earlier during this and the last year.

Competent person

Alexander Polonyankin, a competent person under JORC and member of Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, MAusIMM (CP), has reviewed and approved the technical information relating to operations covered in this press release.

For more information, please contact:

Mikhail Damrin, CEO, +7 916 808 12 17, [email protected]
Tim Carlsson, CFO, + 46 702 31 87 01, [email protected]

This information is information that Kopy Goldfields AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 8.30 am CEST on 22 April 2021.

The following documents can be retrieved from beQuoted
Kopy Goldfields Pressrelease 2021-04-22 eng.pdf

About Kopy Goldfields

If you want to open the text in your webbrowser click here
______________________________________________________
This information was sent by beQuoted
If you want more information, please go to www.beQuoted.com
To change your subscription, please inform [email protected]

beQuoted Press är en service till Dig som är intresserad av finansiell information. Med beQuoted Press underlättas företagens finansiella kommunikation till Dig och till nyhetsbyråer, aktieägare, placeringsrådgivare och andra intressenter på aktiemarknaden.

Vi hoppas att Du uppskattar denna service.