K92 Mining Announces Strong Operational Guidance - Seite 2

Note: All amounts in United States Dollars unless otherwise indicated.
(1): Refer to Integrated Development Plan (IDP) Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) Case and PEA Case. IDP effective date is January 1, 2022. IDP has not been updated to reflect the updated Kora and Judd resource estimates (effective date September 12, 2023); however, the Company does not expect the design parameters and conclusions to materially change. The Company expects the potential mine life to be extended for both the DFS and PEA cases.

John Lewins, K92 Chief Executive Officer and Director, stated, “We are very excited about the outlook for the Company this year and in particular over the next 18 months, as K92 transforms into a Tier 1 Mid-Tier Producer with the delivery of the Stage 3 Expansion while also having the potential to deliver very significant exploration results from multiple targets as we saw earlier this week with the first two holes reported from our maiden drill program at Arakompa.

Operationally, in 2024, our focus is on increasing production from last year, while progressing with various infrastructure projects on surface and underground for the Stage 3 and 4 Expansions. The various growth capital packages, led by our Vice President Projects and Engineering, Chris Kinver, have made significant progress with 48% of the total growth capital either spent or committed as at December 31, 2023. Chris Kinver’s team is also well advanced awarding contracts for our second largest package, the Paste Fill Plant, with the tender process underway for long lead time items, which are expected to be awarded in the coming weeks.

On the underground mine, we are making significant investments in sustaining capital ahead of the Stage 3 Process Plant commissioning to establish multiple mining fronts while also introducing infrastructure that we expect will deliver a step-change in productivity. In 2023, Kainantu effectively operated with one mining front, and by the end of 2024, we plan to have three fronts producing, with a fourth planned for 2025. Infrastructure, such as the twin incline, ore and waste passes, in addition to ventilation upgrades are expected to significantly improve efficiencies and material movement capacity. This is also expected to realize very significant economies of scale.