Steppe Gold Announces Q1 2025 Financial Results

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 15, 2025) - Steppe Gold Ltd. (TSX: STGO) (OTCQX: STPGF) (FSE: 2J9) ("Steppe Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2025.

HIGHLIGHTS

All figures in US$000's unless stated otherwise, except per unit figures which are in US$. Unless otherwise noted or the context indicates otherwise, "Group" refers to the Company and its subsidiaires including Boroo Gold LLC.

• Total Group revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2025, amounted to $32,368 on combined sales of 15,611 ounces of gold.

• Average realized prices for the three months ended March 31, 2025, were $2,041 per gold ounce, reflecting the impact of a forward sales contract fixed at $2,000 per ounce. The Group expects to revert to sales at spot price in June 2025.

• On a combined mine basis for the three months ended March 31, 2025, the Group produced 19,860 ounces of gold and 5,412 ounces of silver. ATO production in 2025 is largely based on residual leaching as the Phase 1 ATO production is largely depleted.

• Adjusted EBITDA after stream payments and maintenance capital expenditures for the Group for the three months ended March 31, 2025, was $18,370. Income tax payments of $15,593 were made in the quarter.

• All in Sustaining Costs for the Group was $991 for the three months ended March 31, 2025, primarily due to strong cost control and lower capital expenditures in the quarter. Capital expenditures are expected to increase in Q2 and Q3 with new fleet additions planned.

• The Group reported positive working capital of $139,815 as at March 31, 2025. Working capital included bond investments of $98,709 which accrue interest at between 8% to 13.4% and mature on December 31, 2025. The repayment of these bonds will be applied to debt reduction and working capital needs.

• As at March 31, 2025, Group net debt was $157,199. Following the Boroo Gold transaction, the Group has been actively working with its principal lenders at TDB to restructure debt facilities and repay higher rate loans, while it remains compliant with key covenants, including bank concentration limits.

• With higher gold prices and expected strong cash flow in the second half of 2025 the Group is also actively reviewing its financing options for the Phase 2 Expansion, including the impact of the stream arrangements, debt availability and other factors. It expects to renegotiate the terms of the financing of the Phase 2 Expansion with all its stakeholders.

• At the Boroo Gold and ATO mine sites, there were 1,558,815 tonnes of ore mined and 460,035 tonnes of ore processed, with an average gold grade of 1.51 g/t and 211,489 tonnes of ore with an average grade of 0.25 g/t that underwent primary leaching during the three months ended March 31, 2025.

Steppe Gold's Chairman and CEO, Bataa Tumur-Ochir, stated, "I am pleased to report a strong first quarter in 2025 with gold production just below 20,000 ounces. We reported a very competitive $991 per ounce AISC, showing the benefit of effective cost control. We expect to see higher achieved gold prices in the second half of 2025, plus the maturity of the bond investment, placing us in a strong position to restructure and reduce our debt load, and execute on our growth opportunities."