December 2021 Quarter Report

PERTH, Western Australia, Jan. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Perseus Mining Limited (“Perseus” or the “Company”) (TSX & ASX: PRU) reports on its activities for the three months’ period ended December 31, 2021 (the “Quarter”).

Notes: 1. Includes Yaouré cost and sales data from 31 March 2021 following declaration of Commercial Production.  

• Key Operating highlights include:
  • Gold production increased 14% quarter-on-quarter to 128,378 ounces or 66% year-on-year to 432,410 ounces.
  • Weighted average AISCs decreased by 3% or US$32 quarter-on-quarter to US$934 per ounce or 5% year-on-year to US$985 per ounce.
  • Gold production of 241,164 ounces and AISC of US$949 per ounce, comfortably achieved market guidance for the December Half Year of 225 – 255,000 ounces of gold at US$925 -1,025 per ounce.
  • Quarterly gold sales increased by 21%, giving a 63% increase in year-on-year gold sales to 432,250 ounces.
  • Average quarterly cash margin of US$735 per ounce of gold was US$46 more than prior quarter.
  • Notional cashflow from operations increased by 21% quarter-on-quarter to US$ 94.0 million, and 84% year-on-year to $275.1 million.
  • Operating performance consistently in line with ESG KPIs.

• Perseus’s strong operating performance is forecast to continue with production of 230,000 to 265,000 ounces at an ASIC of US$915 to US$1,085 per ounce planned in the June 2022 Half Year, translating to 471,000 to 506,000 ounces at an ASIC of US$932 to US$1,020 per ounce for the full 2022 Financial Year.

• Business development activities continued to deliver encouraging results, demonstrating potential to materially increase Perseus’s Ore Reserves inventory and extend the economic mine lives of its operations:
  • Exploration programmes on the Nkosuo prospect near Edikan and the CMA Underground prospect at Yaouré both returned excellent drill results, confirming the potential for strong organic growth of each mine.
  • Assessment of inorganic growth opportunities continue to generate encouraging results.

• Perseus’s financial position continues to strengthen with available cash and bullion of US$212 million (A$292 million), debt of US$50 million (A$68 million), and net cash of US$162 million (A$269 million) at 31 December 2021, after returning US$13 million (A$18 million) of capital to shareholders, reducing debt by US$50 million (A$68 million) and investing US$11 million (A$15 million) in organic growth during the quarter.

OPERATIONS

QUARTERLY PRODUCTION, COSTS AND NOTIONAL CASHFLOW

Perseus’s three operating gold mines, Yaouré and Sissingué in Côte d’Ivoire, and Edikan in Ghana have combined to produce a total of 128,378 ounces of gold in the December 2021 quarter, 14% more than in the prior quarter. The weighted average production cost at the operations was US$823 per ounce, while the weighted average AISC incurred during the quarter was US$934 per ounce of gold. Production costs and AISC’s were 4% and 3% respectively, lower than comparative costs in the previous quarter.

This performance contributed to Half Yearly gold production at our three mines of 241,164 ounces of gold, produced at an average AISC of US$949 per ounce. This strong performance compared favourably to market guidance for the Half Year of 225,000 to 255,000 ounces of gold produced at an AISC of US$925 to 1,025 per ounce and has positioned Perseus to achieve our corporate objective of producing more than 500,000 ounces of gold at a margin of greater than US$400 per ounce in FY2022.

Table 1: Cost and Production Summary by Mine

Combined gold sales from all three operations totalled 130,486 ounces, 21% more than last quarter. The weighted average gold price realised was US$1,669 per ounce, slightly better than the price received in the September 2021 quarter. Perseus’s average cash margin for the December 2021 quarter was US$735 per ounce, US$46 per ounce or 7% more than that achieved during the September 2021 quarter. Notional operating cashflow from operations was US$94.3 million, US$16.5 million or 21% more than that generated in the prior period, driven by quarter-on-quarter production growth of 14%, derived largely from improved production performance at all three mines, combined with improved AISCs at Sissingué and Edikan.

Table 2: Realised Gold Price and Notional Cash Flow by Mine

YAOURÉ GOLD MINE, CÔTE D’IVOIRE

During the quarter, Perseus’s newest mine, Yaouré, increased its gold production by a further 16% compared to the prior quarter to 75,189 ounces of gold at a production cost of US$589 per ounce and an AISC of US$700 per ounce. The weighted average sales price of the 79,669 ounces of gold sold during the quarter was US$1,699 per ounce, giving rise to a cash margin of US$999 per ounce. Notional operating cashflow generated by Yaouré was US$75.1 million during the quarter, US$9.3 million more than in the September 2021 quarter. Refer to Table 3 below for details of operating and financial parameters.

This performance contributed to half yearly gold production at Yaouré of 139,747 ounces of gold, produced at an average AISC of US$687 per ounce which compared favourably to market guidance for the half year of 130,000 to 140,000 ounces of gold produced at an AISC of US$675 to US$775 per ounce.

The improving operating performance at Yaouré was a result of strong operating fundamentals compared to the prior quarter, including mill throughput rates (487 tph compared to 449 tph), gold recovery rates (93.6% compared to 92.7%) and importantly, the head grade of processed ore (2.64 g/t to 2.37 g/t).

Table 3: Yaouré Quarterly Performance

Notes:
1. Gold sales are recognised in Perseus’s accounts when gold is delivered to the customer from Perseus’s metal account
2. Includes Yaouré data from declaration of Commercial Production on 31 March 2021.
3. Included in the AISC for the quarter is US$6.91 million of costs relating to excess waste stripping. When reporting cost of sales, in line with accepted practice under IFRS, this cost will be capitalised and the costs amortised over the remainder of the relevant pit life.

MINERAL RESOURCE TO MILL RECONCILIATION

The reconciliation of processed ore tonnes, grade and contained gold relative to the Yaouré Mineral Resource block model are shown in Table 4. During the last quarter, 17% more ore tonnes at 10% lower grade for 6% more ounces have been produced compared to the Mineral Resource model. Over the last six months and project to-date, Yaouré has produced more metal than predicted by the Mineral Resource model. The performance of the Yaouré Mineral Resource model to date is considered satisfactory, however work will continue to optimise the grade and reduce dilution.

Table 4: Yaouré Block Model to Mill Reconciliation

SISSINGUÉ GOLD MINE, CÔTE D’IVOIRE

During the quarter, 18,065 ounces of gold were produced at Sissingué at a production cost of US$817 per ounce and an AISC of US$905 per ounce. The weighted average sales price of the 16,621 ounces of gold sold during the quarter was US$1,638 per ounce, giving rise to a cash margin of US$732 per ounce. Notional cashflow generated from the Sissingué operation totalled US$13.2 million for the quarter, US$ 2.1 million more than in the prior quarter, due to a combination of improved production, costs and average gold sale prices. Refer…