Kainantu Operations and COVID-19 Update

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K92 Mining Inc. (“K92” or the “Company”) (TSX: KNT; OTCQX: KNTNF) provides the following update on the Kainantu operations and the increasing presence of COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea.

The Kainantu Gold Mine, located in Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, continues to operate, with a number of COVID-19 cases identified through our containment measures, contact tracing, quarantine procedures and routine testing. K92 has on-site quarantine facilities, which were significantly expanded during the last year. Additional protocols have been activated, and our number one priority is to protect the health and well-being of our personnel and local communities.

Yesterday, the Government of Australia announced the temporary introduction of restrictions on travel between Papua New Guinea and Australia. The restriction includes the suspension of movement of resource sector’s expatriate fly-in fly-out workforce between Papua New Guinea and Australia for a two-week period. The Company is engaging with the Governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea through the Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum to ensure protocols in place will allow the resumption of travel following the suspension period. The suspension will result in a reduction in expatriate staffing levels over the short term, but this is not expected to significantly impact production, although some non-production related activities may be impacted.

The Company also advises that stoping operations have also been interrupted for a period of approximately two weeks as a result of an incident involving an underground loader, which prevented backfilling operations. While backfilling operations will recommence shortly, this will result in production from four high grade stopes to be deferred from the current quarter to the second quarter, resulting in the plant treating a larger amount of lower grade stockpile material during the current quarter. It should be noted that this is not expected to impact on the guidance production for 2021.

Following the record production reported in Q4 2020, the Company has taken the opportunity to repay the outstanding balance of US$5 million due on the Trafigura loan during the current quarter, leaving the Company with no debt and an historically high cash balance of over US$67 million.

About K92

K92 Mining Inc. is engaged in the production of gold, copper and silver from the Kora deposit at the Kainantu Gold Mine in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea, as well as exploration and development of mineral deposits in the immediate vicinity of the mine. The Company declared commercial production from Kainantu in February 2018 and is in a strong financial position.