K92 Mining Announces Extension to Mining Lease 150 and Approval of the Kainantu Gold Mine Stage 3 and Stage 4 Expansions

• Mining Lease 150 (“ML 150” or the “Mining Lease”) has been granted an extension for an additional 10 years, to June 2034, by the Government of Papua New Guinea. The renewal is well in advance of the original expiry date of June 2024, highlighting the significant support of various levels of Government and stakeholders for the Kainantu Gold Mine.
  
  
• Concurrent with the Mining Lease extension, the Board of Directors of K92 have approved the Company progressing with Kainantu Gold Mine’s Stage 3 and 4 Expansions. The Stage 3 Expansion plans to increase annual throughput to 1.2 million tonnes per annum (“mtpa”) and the Stage 4 Expansion to 1.7 mtpa, representing a 140% and 240% increase from the Stage 2A Expansion, respectively.
  
  
• The expansions are expected to transform Kainantu into a Tier 1 mine, as demonstrated in the Integrated Development Plan’s Stage 4 Preliminary Economic Assessment Case (the “Stage 4 PEA Case”), outlining peak annual production of 500,192 ounces gold equivalent (“AuEq”) in 2027, life of mine average all-in sustaining cost of $687/oz (co-product) or $444/oz net of by-product credits, and self-funded from mine cash flow at $1,600/oz Au. The tendering process for long-lead time expansion items has already commenced.
  

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K92 Mining Inc. (“K92” or the “Company”) (TSX: KNT; OTCQX: KNTNF) is pleased to announce that the Government of Papua New Guinea has granted an extension of Mining Lease 150 for the Kainantu Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea for a period of 10 years to June 13, 2034.

Concurrent with this announcement, K92’s Board of Directors have approved the Stage 3 and Stage 4 Expansions (collectively the “Expansions”), increasing the annual processing throughput to 1.2 mtpa and 1.7 mtpa, respectively. This represents a 140% increase and 240% increase, respectively, from the Stage 2A processing capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum. The current Stage 2A Expansion run-rate throughput has already been achieved, with the last major process plant upgrade, the installation of flotation cells to double rougher capacity expected in early 2023.

The Expansions are expected to be transformational for Kainantu, as demonstrated in the Integrated Development Plan (“IDP”) Stage 4 PEA Case, outlining a peak annual production of 500,192 oz AuEq in 2027, a life of mine average all-in sustaining cost of $687/oz (co-product) or $444/oz net of by-product credits. Importantly, the growth capital cost of US$187 million, sustaining capital cost until operating both process plants of approximately US$60 million per annum, and life of mine sustaining capital cost of US$429 million are expected to be self-funded from mine cash flow at US$1,600/oz Au (see press release dated September 12, 2022 - K92 Mining Inc Announces Robust Kainantu Gold Mine Integrated Development Plan). Tendering for long-lead time items for the expansion has already commenced.