Q1 2024 Production Results and Operational Highlights

Q1 2024 Production Results and Operational Highlights

Serabi Gold plc ("Serabi” or the "Company”) (AIM: SRB, TSX: SBI), is pleased to announce the Company’s first quarter production results and operating highlights for FY2024. (All financial amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated).

QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

• Q1-2024 gold production of 9,007 ounces; a 12.5% improvement on Q1-2023 and the highest quarterly total reported since 2021.
  • Coringa contributed 3,871 ounces of gold production at mined grades of 6.39 g/t gold.
  • Palito plant processed a record quarterly total of over 54,000 tonnes of ore.
• Cash held on 31 March was $11.1 million, with a further $1.1 million owed for sales made in Q1, vs. cash held on 31 December of $11.6 million.
• The ore sorter acquired for Coringa has successfully arrived in Brazil, cleared customs and is now enroute to site. Serabi continues to expect commissioning of the ore sorter in Q4-2024.
• In January 2024, the National Mining Agency ("ANM”) renewed Serabi’s GUIA trial mining license for the Coringa operation for a 3 year period.
• NCL Ingeniería y Construcción SpA of Santiago de Chile ("NCL”) have been retained and have commenced work on an updated Preliminary Economic Study (PEA) at Coringa, which will incorporate a revised geological resource, mineral reserve, and economic study outlining the planned use of the classification plant and process at the Palito Complex.
• The Company is reiterating FY2024 consolidated gold production guidance of 38,000 – 40,000 ounces.    

An interview with Mike Hodgson, CEO by Crux Investor can be accessed using the following link –
https://youtu.be/8ez5vVY2Fz0

An interview with Mike Hodgson, CEO by BRR Media can be accessed using the following link - https://www.brrmedia.co.uk/broadcasts-embed/661d1cd8591bc168ede76734/serabi-gold/?popup=true

Mike Hodgson, CEO of Serabi, commented:

"A very satisfactory start to the year with over 9,000 ounces produced, in line with guidance. This has been the highest quarterly total since Q3-2021. The process plant continued to perform admirably with a quarterly record of over 54,000 milled tonnes. Mine output exceeded 56,000 tonnes, which was also the highest ROM total in 3 years.

"There continued to be significant mine development at Coringa which contributed 3,871 ounces to Q1-2024 production. The high, 90% payability of the Serra orebody means we generate a robust number of production stoping blocks on each level and this is allowing us to ensure mine development well ahead of production. We were very pleased to receive the renewal of the GUIA for three years and remain focussed on securing the longer term Installation Licence. We are committed to our responsibility to the environment, local region, communities and other   stakeholders. We strive to adopt a high standard for our operations and anticipate that the community programmes we put in place will reflect this.

"I am also pleased to report the ore sorter, purchased late last year, has arrived in Brazil and cleared customs. The crushing plant is being overhauled and the site for the classification plant (ore sorter and crushing) is now cleared and being prepared for start of the civil works. It is Serabi’s objective to have the plant operational by Q4-2024.

"The Group has also started a six month underground exploration drilling campaign on the Serra ore body with the view to updating the geological resource. We have hired NCL to undertake a new Preliminary Economic Assessment incorporating a revised geological resource, mineral reserve and economic study considering the planned use of the classification plant and processing at the Palito Complex.

"A new IP geophysics and soil geochemistry programme at São Domingos, near the São Chico mine helped us better understand the past successful drilling results of 2021 (7.15 m @ 258g/t). We have revised our initial geological interpretation and are now very encouraged to return to this area once the rains conclude to drill this target and identify the source that has supported extensive artisanal workings in the area.

"We look forward to the rest of 2024, as the increasing gold price and solid first quarter has provided a good platform for us to build on. Coringa is turning out to be an excellent asset, while Palito remains a steady producer. We look forward to the final permitting of Coringa to reach a positive conclusion, and once the rains subside, to seeing the exploration drills turning again.”

           (1)   The table may not sum due to rounding.

           (2)   Production numbers are subject to change pending final assay analysis from refineries.

OPERATIONAL RESULTS

Total production for the first quarter was 9,007 ounces, 5,136 ounces from Palito Complex ounces and 3,871 ounces from Coringa.

Total ore mined from the Palito Complex during the quarter was 36,471 tonnes at 4.72 g/t compared to 35,497 tonnes at 4.78 g/t of gold for the final quarter of 2023. Coringa mined tonnes totalled 19,825 tonnes at 6.39 g/t in the quarter, the highest total to date. The Coringa ore is being derived from the development and some stoping of the Serra orebody, the first sector in the Coringa complex. Five levels are now being worked, from level 340m to level 225m. The main ramp is expected to reach the next development level, 195m by April end.

54,521 tonnes of ROM ore were processed through the Palito plant during the quarter, with an average grade of 5.38 g/t of gold, compared with 48,988 tonnes at 5.31 g/t of gold in the fourth quarter of 2023. This included 18,660 tonnes of Coringa ore at a feed grade of 6.61 g/t gold.

A total of 3,087 metres of horizontal development has been completed across Palito Complex and Coringa. 2,154 metres of horizontal development was recorded at Palito Complex, of which 1,221 metres was ore development. The balance is the ramp, crosscuts and stope preparation development. Horizontal development at Coringa totalled 933 metres, of which 453 metres was in ore.

The Coringa orebody continues to perform well, with the uppermost 320m and 290m levels in production and development well advanced on levels 260m and 225m. The main ramp is now just 50 metres from the next planned level at 190m. As a result, Coringa now has two full levels developed ahead of stoping, and a third about to commence next month which is a strong position.

Palito plant mine tonnage processed was the highest since 2021, however with lower mined grades than planned. The main reason for this has been the mining of the Chico da Santa sector. Over the past 4-5 months, mining has focused on an area where the Ipe and Capybara veins combine. This presents a mining challenge. Bulk mining using non-entry long hole open stoping was chosen over the very proven selective open stoping method, on safety grounds. This zone is wide and selective open stoping is not an appropriate method in wider zones. Despite extensive cable bolting to support the sidewalls, excessive dilution was encountered, resulting in greater volume and lower, though still viable grades. Looking forward, we anticipate Palito grades to return to the 6-7g/t Au range seen in the first 9 months of 2023.   

CORINGA LICENCING

In January 2024, the Company received the renewal of the GUIA trial mining license, for a period of three years. GUIA’s are normally subject to an annual renewal requirement. This followed a court sanctioned agreement signed by all key parties in December 2023 relaxing earlier restrictions on licence renewals being granted by the ANM and the state environmental authority ("SEMAS). With respect to progress on the Installation License (LI), the Company along with its environmental consultancy, Araca, have now completed the Plano Basico Ambiental (PBA), a report that defines the community programmes that the Company will undertake over the life of the project. This PBA has been incorporated into the Indigenous Impact Report (ECI) and is now being circulated to all stakeholders before presentation to FUNAI (the federal agency for indigenous communities)..   

FINANCE UPDATE

Cash balances at the end of March 2024 were $11.1 million, in comparison to the cash balances at the end of December 2023 of $11.6 million. Logistics issues delayed the shipment of some copper/gold concentrate during the quarter. This resulted in a delay in receiving a further $1.1 million until after the end of the quarter. The Company also had a small amount due to be received from Vale at the end of the period. The Company had a net cash balance (after interest bearing loans and lease liabilities) of $4.7m excluding the funds due to be received post-quarter end (December 2023: net cash $5.0 million). 90% of the purchase price for the ore sorter has been paid prior to the end of the quarter.

FY2024 PRODUCTION GUIDANCE

The company continues to expect FY2024 consolidated gold production of 38,000 – 40,000 ounces.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was Clive Line, Director.

Enquiries

SERABI GOLD plc
Michael Hodgson        t +44 (0)20 7246 6830
Chief Executive        m +44 (0)7799 473621

Clive Line        t +44 (0)20 7246 6830
Finance Director        m +44 (0)7710 151692

Andrew Khov         m +1 647 885 4874
Vice President, Investor Relations &
Business Development
        e contact@serabigold.com

        www.serabigold.com

BEAUMONT CORNISH Limited
Nominated Adviser & Financial Adviser
Roland Cornish / Michael Cornish        t +44 (0)20 7628 3396

PEEL HUNT LLP
Joint UK Broker
Ross Allister        t +44 (0)20 7418 9000

TAMESIS PARTNERS LLP
Joint UK Broker
Charlie Bendon/ Richard Greenfield        t +44 (0)20 3882 2868

CAMARCO
Financial PR - Europe
Gordon Poole / Emily Hall                t +44 (0)20 3757 4980

HARBOR ACCESS
Financial PR – North America
Jonathan Patterson / Lisa Micali                t +1 475 477 9404

Copies of this announcement are available from the Company's website at www.serabigold.com.

See www.serabigold.com for more information and follow us on twitter @Serabi_Gold

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

The following is a glossary of technical terms:

Assay Results
Assay results reported within this release include those provided by the Company's own on-site laboratory facilities at Palito and have not yet been independently verified. Serabi closely monitors the performance of its own facility against results from independent laboratory analysis for quality control purpose. As a matter of normal practice, the Company sends duplicate samples derived from a variety of the Company's activities to accredited laboratory facilities for independent verification. Since mid-2019, over 10,000 exploration drill core samples have been assayed at both the Palito laboratory and certified external laboratory, in most cases the ALS laboratory in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. When comparing significant assays with grades exceeding 1 g/t gold, comparison between Palito versus external results record an average over-estimation by the Palito laboratory of 6.7% over this period. Based on the results of this work, the Company's management are satisfied that the Company's own facility shows sufficiently good correlation with independent laboratory facilities for exploration drill samples. The Company would expect that in the preparation of any future independent Reserve/Resource statement undertaken in compliance with a recognized standard, the independent authors of such a statement would not use Palito assay results without sufficient duplicates from an appropriately certificated laboratory.

Forward-looking statements
Certain statements in this announcement are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identi?ed by their use of terms and phrases such as ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, "should” ‘‘envisage’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘will’’ or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors’ current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company’s future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements re?ect the Directors’ current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors. Several factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions, competition, environmental and other regulatory changes, actions by governmental authorities, the availability of capital markets, reliance on key personnel, uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward looking statements.

Qualified Persons Statement
The scientific and technical information contained within this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Michael Hodgson, a Director of the Company. Mr Hodgson is an Economic Geologist by training with over 30 years' experience in the mining industry. He holds a BSc (Hons) Geology, University of London, a MSc Mining Geology, University of Leicester and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a Chartered Engineer of the Engineering Council of UK, recognizing him as both a Qualified Person for the purposes of Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and by the AIM Guidance Note on Mining and Oil & Gas Companies dated June 2009.

Notice
Beaumont Cornish Limited, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting as nominated adviser to the Company in relation to the matters referred herein. Beaumont Cornish Limited is acting exclusively for the Company and for no one else in relation to the matters described in this announcement and is not advising any other person and accordingly will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Beaumont Cornish Limited, or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any matter referred to in it.

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange, nor any other securities regulatory authority, has approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release