Harte Gold Announces Deferral of Debt and Provides Update on its Upcoming Filings

TORONTO, May 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HARTE GOLD CORP. (“Harte Gold” or the “Company”) (TSX: HRT / OTC: HRTFF / Frankfurt: H4O) is pleased to announce an agreement in principle has been reached with BNP Paribas (“BNPP”), the Company’s senior lender, on deferral of debt payments, which should provide additional financial flexibility for a restart of the Sugar Zone Mine.

The Company also announces it will postpone the filing of its interim financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”) for the three-month period ended March 31, 2020 (“Q1 2020”).  The Company intends to rely on the blanket relief granted by Ontario Instrument 51-502 – Temporary Exemption from Certain Corporate Finance Requirements, which provides for up to a 45-day extension for periodic filings.  Management expects to file interim financial reports on or before May 22, 2020.

In addition, the Company would also like to provide the following business development updates which have occurred since March 25, 2020, being the date of the last financial reports filed by the Company:

• Debt deferral:
  
  -- Principal payments scheduled for June 30, 2020 and September 30, 2020 have been deferred freeing up approximately $4.4 million in near-term liquidity.
  
  -- Deferral of financial covenants from June 30, 2020 to April 1, 2021.
  
  -- Removal of all covenants related to minimum mine and mill production.
  
  
• Q1 2020 production summary:
  
  -- Production of 8,597 ounces was an increase of 57% over Q1 2019 and 7% over Q4 2019.
  
  -- Critical mine indicators continue to improve – lateral waste, ramp and ore development metres were ahead of expectations.
  
  -- Chip sampling completed to-date suggests a positive trend to potentially extend mineralization in current development areas and would allow the company to mine more ounces per sill level
  
  
• Q1 2020 preliminary, unaudited financial results – subject to final filing of Q1 2020 MD&A and financials:
  
  -- Gold sales revenues of approximately $15.7 million for the quarter.
  
  -- Positive mine EBITDA¹ of approximately $3.9 million, 104% increase over Q4 2019.
  
  -- Operating Cash Cost¹ per ounce (“Cash Cost”) improved to approximately US$1,133, a decrease of 27% and 7% over Q1 and Q4 2019, respectively.
  
  -- All-In Sustaining Cost¹ per ounce (“AISC”) for the quarter was approximately US$1,951, a decrease of 20% and 4% over Q1 and Q4 2019, respectively.
  
  
• Liquidity: As at March 31, 2020, unaudited cash and equivalents were approximately $13.7 million.  The Company is currently in care-and-maintenance and is managing its cash under that scenario.
• COVID-19 Update: Planning is underway to restart mining operations and management are currently reviewing a restart scenario.  The market will be updated as soon as a decision is made.

The Company confirms that its management and other insiders are subject to an insider trading black-out policy that reflects the principles in section 9 of National Policy 11-207 – Failure-to-File Cease Trade Orders and Revocations in Multiple Jurisdictions.