IAMGOLD reports First Quarter 2021 Results, Côté Construction on Track

"In the first quarter 2021, the IAMGOLD team made good progress toward our operating and development goals," said Gordon Stothart, President and CEO of IAMGOLD.  

Côté Gold Project

During the first quarter, the earthwork contractors continued work on road widening and overburden stripping, and commenced work on the water management infrastructure for the tailings management facility. Temporary camps are now fully erected and commissioned. Construction of the permanent camp is underway, which will serve to supplement peak construction workforce requirements. Of the total number of rooms planned, approximately 50% have been installed to-date, meeting the current requirements of the site.

At March 31, 2021, detailed engineering reached 83% and overall the project was 18% complete. Procurement and expediting of major equipment contracts are progressing with the contract for the mining fleet being awarded in the first quarter.

The Company's share of total project costs (exclusive of sunk costs) from July 1, 2020, net of leasing, is in the range of $875 million to $925 million. The Company's share of leasing is expected to be approximately $120 million, assuming a go-forward USDCAD exchange rate of 1.30 (originally approximately $80 million at an exchange rate of 1.35). The Company had incurred and expended costs of $67.1 million and $49.5 million, respectively, for the first quarter 2021 and $142.8 million and $101.6 million, respectively, since July 1, 2020.

In line with company-wide COVID-19 safety protocols, additional steps have been taken to protect the health and safety of employees and contractors, including antigen testing at the Sudbury and Timmins bus terminals in order to detect COVID-19 cases before individuals reach the site. To date, the Company has not experienced impacts to schedule due to COVID-19.

Outlook

The work plan will continue to focus on earthwork construction, haul road construction and water management infrastructure around the pit site. A portion of the permanent camp will be commissioned during the second quarter 2021 to increase the current capacity on site, with the camp expected to be fully commissioned in the third quarter 2021. Civil works are underway at the plant site and concrete activities, as well as initial pre-stripping work in the pit, are expected to be initiated during the second quarter 2021 as planned.

The Company's share of the remaining total costs are expected to be expended as follows: 2021 - $319 million (including $307 million of capital expenditures), 2022 - $380 to $420 million and 2023 - $75 million to $85 million.

Exploration

During the first quarter 2021, the Company reported further assay results from its ongoing delineation drilling program at the Gosselin zone, centered 1.5 kilometres northeast of the Côté gold deposit. Drilling highlights included: 417.3 metres grading 0.95 g/t Au (including 197.3 metres grading 1.60 g/t Au), 353.0 metres grading 1.04 g/t Au (including 46.0 metres grading 3.39 g/t Au), 86.0 metres grading 5.57 g/t Au (including 30.35 metres grading 14.70 g/t Au) and 101.6 metres grading 1.86 g/t Au (see news releases dated January 21 and March 8, 2021).

The Company completed approximately 3,000 metres of diamond drilling and spent $0.9 million during the quarter, compared to $0.7 million in the fourth quarter 2020, primarily on continued delineation diamond drilling to support the completion of an initial resource estimate, expected in the second half of 2021. In 2021, the Company expects to spend $2.8 million on greenfield exploration related to the Côté property, including the Gosselin zone. This expenditure is not part of construction costs.

"Our operations generated $89.5 million in mine-site free cash flow and we ended the quarter with approximately $1.5 billion in available liquidity. Production was strong at Essakane and as expected at Westwood's Grand Duc open pit, with Rosebel and satellite Saramacca impacted by unusually heavy seasonal rains and COVID-19 restrictions. We completed the CIL mill upgrade at Essakane and continue to expand camp capacity at Rosebel. At Côté, we started major earthworks ahead of schedule and have attained 18% completion of the project at March 31st. We continue to de-risk our Boto project by advancing essential infrastructure work including the access road and camp construction. And, we recently announced two important initiatives in further support of our host communities: a substantial donation to UNICEF's COVAX vaccination program and sponsorship of the Giants of Africa youth development program. With the normalization of operations and continuous improvement, we expect to see improved production levels and costs over the balance of the year and to continue to steadily advance our development projects and pipeline."

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