PERTH, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / July 18, 2019 / Centamin plc ("Centamin" or "the Company") (LSE: CEY, TSX: CEE)

Quarterly Report
for the three months ended 30 June 2019

Highlights

• Group Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate ("LTIFR") in the second quarter ("Q2") of 0.23 per 200,000 workplace hours;
• Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari") produced 117,913 ounces of gold i n Q2, bringing production for the first half of the year ("H1") to 234,096 ounces and in line with the Company's 45:55 production weighted guidance split for the year; The stronger second half ("H2") is driven by higher grades from the open pit as Stage 4 mining progresses down through the Hapi Zone, as the open pit is scheduled to contribute approximately two thirds of the total H2 ounces;
• Centamin maintains annual guidance for 2019: gold production of 490,000 - 520,000 ounces, at cash costs(1) of US$675-725 per ounce produced and an AISC(1) of US$890-950 per ounce sold; The Company expects costs to trend downwards in line with the scheduled increased production profile in H2;
• Processing plant throughput of 3.4Mt of ore at an increased 96.1% utilisation rate;
• Excellent Horus Deeps exploration results, delineating multiple meaningful high-grade structures 400 metres below current 43-101 defined Sukari underground Reserve and Resource; intercept highlights: 29 m @ 6.3g/t, including 11m @ 7.9g/t and 15m @ 6.2g/t; 1m @ 68.4g/t;
• Strong and flexible balance sheet with no debt, no hedging and cash and liquid assets(2) of US$326.6 million, as at 30 June 2019, after payment of US$34.6 million final dividend;
• Detailed Interim Results, including interim dividend, for the six months ended 30 June 2019, will be published on Wednesday 31 July 2019; and
• The Company will publish baseline near-term outlook for 2020 and 2021 on 31 July 2019.

Andrew Pardey, CEO, commented:

"The outlook for the business continues to improve. We remain focused on delivery against our promises and our corporate strategy. Stronger production in the second half will be driven by mining open pit grades above 1g/t, as the Stage 4 pit progresses down into the Hapi Zone.

With continued improvement in the business, the Company is growing its core technical competencies, through recruitment and ongoing development of its people.

We have a portfolio of attractive organic opportunities within Sukari and continue to deliver successful results from our Cote d'Ivoire exploration programmes. Our balance shee t is strong with no debt, no hedging and cash and liquid assets of US$327 million. We are confident in our plans to maximise shareholder value and returns."

Table 1. Group Production Summary

(1) Cash cost of production, AISC, and cash, bullion on hand, gold sales receivables, and free cash flow are non-GAAP measures, refe renced on 2018 Audited Annual Report and Accounts.

(2) Cash and cash equivalents, bullion on hand, gold sales receivables and financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income.

Conference Call

The Company will be hosting a conference call today, Thursday, 18 July at 08.30 BST (UK time) to discuss the results with investors and analysts, followed by a Q&A.

Please find below the required participation details for the call:

Conference call
Dial-in telephone number: +44 20 3936 2999
Participation access code: 672395

A replay of the call will be made available on the Company website by the close of business today.

For more information, please visit the websitewww.centamin.comor contact:

Operational Review

SUKARI GOLD MINE, EGYPT

Production

Gold production was 117,913 ounces for the quarter, a 27% increase compared to the corresponding quarter in 2018 ("YoY").

Gold sold of 112,764 ounces, was 5% below gold produced due to timing of the closing weekly gold shipment.

In Q2, dump leach operations contributed 1,615 ounces, a 47% decrease YoY, in line with increased mining in higher grade sulphide material.

Cleopatra decline development in mineralisation yielded 1,432 ounces, down 39% YoY, due to increased ramp development in waste material.

Open pit mining

Total material mined of 20.3 Mt, a 10% increase YoY. Total ore mined of 3.6Mt, at an average grade of 0.70g/t is a 35% reduction in tonnes YoY, and a 38% increase in grade YoY. Mining principally focused on Stage 4 West and stripping Stage 5. The strip ratio increased YoY to 4.6:1 due to low grade mining from Stage 5.

The open pit delivered to the plant 3.0Mt at an average milled grade of 0.76g/t and 451kt at an average grade of 0.37g/t to the dump leac h pads.

Over the quarter, the ROM stockpiles increased from 12.33Mt to 12.36Mt at an average grade of 0.45g/t.

Underground mining

Total ore mined of 310kt, an 8% increase YoY, at an average grade of 4.83g/t is a 4% improvement YoY. Ore mined from stoping was 152kt at 7.22g/t, a 16% decrease in tonnes YoY and a 57% improvement in grade YoY, driven by increased grade control drilling and better dilution controls.

Despite operational improvements, a localised geotechnical issue within a secondary access drive has impacted four stopes in the upper Amun. This was due to a localised change in the geology creating a change of ground conditions in the hanging wall. Precaution is being taken to secure the area and normal operations are expected to resume by August.

Grade was lower than planned partly due to the fact that approximately half of the scheduled underground waste deve lopment material mined during the quarter was mineralised above 2g/t and therefore reclassified as ore and processed through the mill. This positively impacted ore tonnes whilst driving down the average grade.

Mining development exceeded plan, as preparation for near term stoping areas and accessing medium term production levels progressed well. Approximately 2,270 metres of development was completed within the Amun/Ptah underground, including decline, ore drive and cross cut development, resulting in ore mined from development of 159kt at an average grade of 2.53g/t, a 46% increase in tonnes YoY, and a 45% decrease in grade YoY (decrease in grade partly driven by the inclusion of planned waste material as ore).

The plant processed 3.4Mt of ore, a 6% increase YoY, with increased plant utilisation of 96.1%.

Feed grade to the processing plant averaged 1.16g/t, a 17% increase YoY.

Metallurgical recovery averaged 88.0%, a 0.9% improvement YoY.

Further optimisation work is underway, including commissioning of the PSA oxygen plant and ashing plant, scheduled for early H1 2020, results of which are aimed at further reducing cash costs and improving gold recoveries.

Exploration Review

SUKARI GOLD MINE, EGYPT

During the quarter there was a strong focus on growing the existing underground resource. The majority of the exploration drilling was close to existing development and infrastructure thereby expanding the structural understanding of the orebody and in turn, supporting increased mine life potential.

All four LM90 rigs were utilised drilling 13,661 metres in Q2. Outstanding results were delivered throughout the quarter, unlocking more resource and reserve growth potential from underground high-grade structures within the porphyry. Also, of significance was the drilling into the Horus Deeps that is currently 400 metres below the existing reported resources. These results continue to expand on the resource potential at depth.

A total of 1,615 metres were budgeted for longer term exploratory drilling into the Horus Deeps. A further 2,000 metres of deep drilling is budgeted for Horus Deeps in Q3.

Table 2. Q2 Significant Underground Drill Intercepts